Back in mid-December, Disney introduced four Lion-Tailed Macaques to the Maharajah Jungle Trek in Animal Kingdom. Located just before you enter the bat exhibit, the Lion-Tailed Macaques enjoy an enclosure with a combination of vegetation, rockwork, and ropes. The group consists of one male and three females.
The Lion-Tailed Macaque ranks as one of the rarest and most threatened primate in the world. They are native to the Western Ghats of South India’s mature evergreen forests, and some reports show that there may be fewer than 2,000 of these monkeys left in the wild. Overpopulation, habitat destruction, fragmentation and other human activities have forced these primates to live in small, isolated pockets of forest (separated by cultivation and open areas). Lion-tailed macaques are sometimes hunted for their meat and, occasionally, as a source of medicine.