I’m still here in the Philippines enjoying my time with friends and family. I did want to highlight another member of the Philippine fauna.

3 lineages of Primates are found in the Philippines. While there’s us humans obviously, there is also a lineage of tarsiers found in the Southern Philippines and a widespread lineage of Unggoy (monkey) found throughout the archipelago.

It doesn’t surprise me that a population of Crab-eating Macaque (Macaca fasiculatus) is found here. Hardy and resilient, macaques throughout the Old World have readily adapted to the human landscape. So much so that they have run into that ole Studia Mirabilium problem and are thought to be pests that need to be controlled. While the challenges of living with these monkeys is there, the potential to show how we can share these spaces cannot be underestimated.

Case in point below. My brother was just hanging out in a spot in Tagaytay, when he noticed a monkey just off the trail. Here’s to a peaceful coexistence with our primate brethren!