Palawan Monkeys
@DonnaAmisDavis
I visited with a couple of my favorite animals the other day – two young Palawan monkeys. These little guys are pets, living at a rest stop on the road to the Puerto Princesa Underground River. They loved the cooked saba bananas I bought for them.
Monkeys have dexterous hands and feet. This little one is working on her cooked banana, using her mouth, hands and feet to get the peel off. Palawan monkeys are omnivorous. They really do love bananas, but their diet includes a many other things, too, like forest fruits, insects, and lizards. They know how to swim, and can dive into rivers to catch crabs and other crustaceans.
Palawan monkeys are a species of macaque. Sometimes they are called Crab-eating Macaque, sometimes called Palawan Macaque, or Philippine Macaque. They live in forests, plains, and among cliffs and rocky terrain. In fact Palawan is home to several unique species of animals and birds, including my beloved pangolins and bear cats (binturong), and a beautiful parrot.
Underground River Monkey Colony
Macaques live in troops of varying size. A large troop lives in the neighborhood of the Puerto Princesa Underground River. Their diet includes lunches stolen from unwary tourists!
Good climbers, they spend a lot of time in trees. Those four hands really help shimmying up trees. Their long tails add balance. The handsome guy below peers down at tourists from the top of a structure at the Underground River.
Several times, driving along the roads here on Palawan, through thick forest, we’ve spotted monkeys. Once a mother hugging her tiny baby to her chest loped across the road in front of us. Last week, a large, whiskery male sitting on a rock beside the road watched us drive by.
The picture below is of a young monkey.
Monkey Heros
In researching macaques I learned that they were used extensively in studies leading to development of the polio vaccine. So now I can add ‘Hero’ to the list of this little animals’ accomplishments.
Can you tell that I love these little monkeys?
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THAT is just too cool! Looks like these monkeys get along well with human neighbors?
These monkeys can be really sweet and friendly when they are little like that, but very often become pretty ill-tempered when they are adults. You know, they are wild creatures, and aren’t really designed to be domesticated. We used to have monkeys but stopped keeping them as pets for those reasons. However, I still love them and whenever I get a chance I really enjoy interacting with them. They can be so engaging.
Thanks for stopping by, Chris!
How can I not stop by when you are talking about an area that is now a consideration for my retirement…lol. Do you take follower request for a blog topic? if so, I would love to hear about some personal details about retiring there. Do you have dual citizenship? how are hospitals? do they like Americans? how is the real estate market? How much money would it take to retire there? are you living in an area with other non-natives(I’m assuming you are not a native…lol)? etc…
Well, I’m only two weeks late getting back to you on this comment, Chris! Yes, you are right, the Philippines, and Palawan, specifically, are favorite places to retire. We have a pretty good group of folks who worked for years in the U.S. or Germany, or another European country, and then come to the PI to retire. Money goes a lot farther here. I don’t know how practical it is, though, unless the person, or his or her spouse has Philippine citizenship, as non-Filipinos can’t own property here. So a lot of Filipinos that went abroad to work, come back to retire, and seem to be drawn to places like Palawan where the pace of life, and cost of living is slower and nicer than the big cities, like Manila.
There are good hospitals and doctors here, and even better ones one one-hour plane flight away in Manila. In fact, Manila is positioning itself as a world-class medical destination, as medical care is quite a bit less expensive there than in the U.S. And as English is one of the national languages here, it is do-able to get by. Though those who understand the culture (the Filipino spouse, smile) really have an advantage.
We don’t have dual citizenship. We live here on a working visa. It is possible to get permanent residency, but I really don’t know how that affects ability to own property.
Yes, they like Americans. Many, many Filipinos have relatives living and working in the U.S., and many have visited them at some point.
Hope that helps. Still some unanswered questions, I think, but maybe you can find someone to answer them! Have a great weekend!
Well, I’m only two weeks late getting back to you on this comment, Chris! Yes, you are right, the Philippines, and Palawan, specifically, are favorite places to retire. We have a pretty good group of folks who worked for years in the U.S. or Germany, or another European country, and then come to the PI to retire. Money goes a lot farther here. I don’t know how practical it is, though, unless the person, or his or her spouse has Philippine citizenship, as non-Filipinos can’t own property here. So a lot of Filipinos that went abroad to work, come back to retire, and seem to be drawn to places like Palawan where the pace of life, and cost of living is slower and nicer than the big cities, like Manila.
There are good hospitals and doctors here, and ones with more variety of specialties and facilities are a one-hour plane flight away in Manila. In fact, Manila is positioning itself as a world-class medical destination, as medical care is quite a bit less expensive there than in the U.S. A friend of mine just flew over from Guam, with a group of patients, to get some procedures done in Manila. And as English is one of the national languages here, it is do-able to get by. Though those who understand the culture (the Filipino spouse, smile) really have an advantage. The way of life here is different than the U.S. or Europe, I’m sure you realize.
We don’t have dual citizenship. We live here on a working visa. It is possible to get permanent residency, but I really don’t know how that affects ability to own property.
Yes, they like Americans. Many, many Filipinos have relatives living and working in the U.S., and many have visited them at some point.
Hope that helps. Still some unanswered questions, I think, but maybe you can find someone to answer them! Have a great weekend!
Hi,
Great photos, he certainly is cute. 🙂
Great information as well, I enjoyed the read.
Cute like your quokkas! Thanks for stopping by.
I want me one of those!
I know, huh, Suzy? You NEED one. Or maybe two or three.
Fun to hear you write about something so unique to this city girl… 🙂
Thanks, Anita. They are endearing little critters.
How do they prefer their bananas prepared? Baked, fried, bananas foster?
Hi Melinda! Hmmm. Probably however they can make the biggest mess. They are sort of like a naughty kid, into everything.
They look cute monkeys.
Thank you!
Animals that are approachable, and just randomly get close to people are always the awesome kind.
These Palawan monkeys, macaques, are pretty darn smart. They figure out really fast how they can get some food!
I want to move here from Hawaii, I have my military retirement, but the Visa is $10,000 deposit for retirees over 50. I just want to rent and live inexpensively, is it still possible any help here would be great!
Aloha…
Palawan does host a lot of retirees. It is less expensive to live than a place like Hawaii. You might want to give it a three or six month try before making a major commitment. It is a different country, with different ways.
I am here right now, 2022. My wife is Filipino.
We also have a Palawan monkey named ,KiKi. She is a hand full. But she seems to like males better than female humans. She won’t leave my side.
So entertaining!!! I sure hope she stays nice for you!
Thank you, yes ,we hope so, here family has had many as pets over the years, they now have an adult that stays outdoors,and is mainly friendly to the people she knows. It’s funny, she will search through there hair on there heads looking for bugs ,or food,lol,
I actually left another comment, I originally called them palawan monkeys after reading your post, but they are actually macaque as you mentioned,because they are native throughout the Philippines,not just in Palawan.
Not to be rude, just saying.
That is so interesting!
I read your article and ,my wife and I also love these native monkeys. We have two ,an adult and a baby girl. But it’s not fair to call them palawan monkeys, because they are native to all parts of the Philippines,not just Palawan. Macaque ,as you mentioned is the correct name. Are monkeys are from mindinao, Tulunan,a province of North Catabato