About Monkeys

Longtailed Macaque Rhesus Macaque

• Several groups of monkeys live in Kam Shan and Lion Rock Country Parks (the Kowloon Hills). Some of them are spreading to Shing Mun Country Park and Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve.

• The total number of monkeys is estimated to be around 2100 in 2008.

• Monkey Species are: rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) 65%; longtailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis) 2%; and hybrids 33%. Hybrids are resulted from cross breeding of the rhesus and the longtailed macaques.

• Rhesus monkeys possess the widest range of distribution, from Pakistan to Southern China (South of Huang He, the Yellow River). Hong Kong is within the locality of their natural distribution. However, the rhesus monkeys in the Kowloon Hills are believed to be released in 1910's.

• Longtailed macaques are limited to the Malaysian peninsula, islands of Burma, Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam. Hong Kong is outside the locality of their natural distribution. The longtailed macaques in Hong Kong were believed to be introduced in the 1950s.

Origin of the Kowloon Hills monkeys