The welfare challenges facing wild macaque populations living in close proximity to human settlements across Asia.
Wild macaques occupying the interface between forests and human settlements experience chronic welfare challenges that are largely human-caused. Habitat loss forces them into farmland and urban areas where food competition with people creates escalating conflict. Individual macaques in these populations show higher stress hormone levels, greater injury rates from human aggression, and disrupted social structures compared to forest populations. The welfare consequences of tourist feeding are particularly damaging: nutritional imbalance from junk food, aggressive behavior learned from food anticipation, and disease transmission from close human contact. Effective welfare and conservation approaches address the social and economic root causes of human-macaque conflict through community benefit programs, agricultural protection measures, and education that reduces feeding and harassment.