Wildlifeof India
Arunachal Macaque
Monkeys, Gibbons & Lorises
Photo: (c) Tarun Meena, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY (May be cropped or resized)
Macaca munzala
Basic stats
Habitat
High-altitude forest at about 2,000–3,500m
Range
Eastern Himalaya of Arunachal Pradesh, India, and possibly Bhutan and China
The Arunachal macaque is a relatively large brown primate with a comparatively short tail, compactly built with a very dark face. It lives at high altitude, between 2,000 and 3,500 m, making it one of the highest-dwelling primates. It is native to the eastern Himalaya, and the Monpa people of West Kameng and Tawang call it mun zala, the deep-forest monkey (Wikipedia, general species account).
It was noticed as a new form in 1997 by the Indian primatologist Anwaruddin Choudhury, who thought it a subspecies of the Tibetan macaque, and was described as a new species in 2005 by scientists of the Nature Conservation Foundation, India. It belongs to the same species group as the Assam, Tibetan, bonnet and toque macaques. The cached account gives no diet or breeding information (Wikipedia, general species account).
Quick answers
- What habitat does the Arunachal Macaque live in?
- High-altitude forest at about 2,000–3,500m
- Where is the Arunachal Macaque found?
- Eastern Himalaya of Arunachal Pradesh, India, and possibly Bhutan and China