Mammalia

and semi-evergreen broadleaf monsoon forest, sometimes near rivers, preferring mature forests

In the wild, they eat fruits, leaves, berries, insects, and seeds.  In the Zoo, they are fed monkey chow, fruits and vegetables, including leafy greens.

Lion-tailed macaques are diurnal, active during the daytime.  The lion-tailed macaque has a multi-male/multi-female social system.  Groups vary from 4 - 34 individuals.  Average group size is usually between 10 to 20 individuals.  Breeding occurs all year round.  A single young is born after a 6-month gestation.  Females have cyclic perineal swelling of their buttocks.

Females remain in their natal group with the onset of maturity, but males will leave shortly before adolescence.  There is a hierarchical system amongst group members that is matrilineal (the social status of the young is linked to the rank of the mother).

This species has cheek pouches for carrying food while foraging.

They have a wide variety of vocalizations, from shrill barks to screeching, screams, growls and squawks. 

The lion-tailed macaque seems to be unable to adapt to human settlement; for example, it apparently does not travel through plantations or use them as habitat.

All macaques are placed in a single genus (Macaca), which occupies the whole of Asia except the high latitudes.  The one surviving macaque in Africa, the Barbary ape, has thick fur and no tail, traits that enable it to survive the snowy winters of the Atlas Mountains.  Most other areas are occupied by single species with characteristics appropriate to climatic conditions.  Near the Equator where rain forests are found, two species of macaques may live together.  For instance, the arboreal lion-tailed macaque occupies a region of the forest above the more terrestrial bonnet macaque. 

This species first arrived in the Zoo’s animal collection in April 1978.  Lion-tailed macaques have successfully reproduced here.