Urban macaques in Asia face complex welfare challenges at the interface of wildlife and human populations, requiring humane management approaches that address conflict without further harming already stressed primates.
Urban macaques occupy a difficult welfare position: they are wild animals not adapted for human dependency, yet they have become reliant on human-modified environments. Management approaches that involve trapping, translocation, or culling cause acute suffering and rarely achieve goals. The chronic stress of urban environments — combined with food insecurity when human provisioning is removed — creates sustained welfare burden for individual macaques. Humane management requires addressing the root causes of conflict through public education and systematic deterrence rather than reactive population control.