Scarface

Assam macaque (Macaca assamensis)

Bhutan

I encountered several groups of macaques, and common to all of them was that they are much more timid than the langurs, and flee as soon as a car stops, or at least if the car opens a door or window. To my surprise getting close enough to get a good shot of the macaques was much harder than I anticipated. I wonder what human encounters they have had over the years to get so nervous around humans.

They are quite messy on the ground, and when a group roams a slope above the road you’re driving on, or walking on, you might get a rock on your car or head. A good sized rock fell to the ground right in front of our car with a bang as we turned a sharp bend in the road, and it was not due to earthquake or other natural events such as flood, as it was the dry season. A quick look up revealed a group of them foraging the slopes.

This gave an answer to one thing I had wondered about, and that was why rocks were falling on the road in the dry season in what seemed stable slopes with mature vegetation holding the rocks and soil in place. I encountered another group that caused a veritable rock slide, and we feared for us and the car and had to drive quickly past their location to get to safety, and thus also missed a relative close encounter.

Here this individual seemed to flaunt his possibly newly won position in the group, as he just sat out in the open on this branch, as to tell me he is the kind of the hill. The gash looks really painful and debilitating. Hopefully it did not get infested. In any case this individual will be severely scarred for life, a typical end result in their continuous battle for rank and females.

Notice how he made a fist of his feet and left hand. I wonder if it’s tension, pain or just him relaxing against the tree.
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