Design for Coexistence: Sharing Space with Our Wild Neighbours

Article by Sia Sin Wei, Volunteer, Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore)

Hi! I am Sin Wei, a long-serving volunteer at Jane Goodall Institute (Singapore). Here at JGIS, we observe World Primate Day every 1 September and remember the three non-human primate wild neighbours we share our home with in Singapore. They are the Raffles’ banded langur (Presbytis femoralis), the long-tailed macaque (Macaca fascicularis), and the Sunda slow loris (Nycticebus coucang). Protecting and advocating for them are important aspects of our work.

The Sunda slow loris is one of three non-human primates found in Singapore. They are critically endangered and fall victim to illegal wildlife trade. (Photo credit: Law Ing Sind)

Long-tailed macaques are highly social animals and live in troops that forage and raise their young together. Females remain in their natal troop for life, while adolescent and adult males typically leave their birth troop to join other groups or live transiently. (Photo by Andie Ang)

Coexisting with Macaques

As a member of Our Wild Neighbours (OWN), JGIS collaborates with partners across Singapore to promote human-wildlife coexistence. In this context, our focus is mainly on macaques, which live in close proximity to us along forest fringes that straddle the boundary between natural and urban spaces. Macaque encounters are not uncommon in these areas and when these interactions become challenging, human-wildlife conflicts arise. Therefore, managing human-macaque interactions, positive or negative, benefits human-wildlife coexistence and contributes to Singapore’s vision as a City in Nature.

Unwanted Encounter: Home Entry

Home entry is a commonly reported negative encounter among people living near green spaces. For many residents, seeing native wildlife in their estate can be a joy, but seeing them entering their home searching for a tasty treat and making a mess is not so cool.

A friend of mine who lives near such a green space was on an online call when a macaque entered her home and made off with some food. It was a disconcerting experience for her, not to mention the frustration of having to clean up the mess the monkey left behind. While macaques pose less risk to people compared to larger animals known to enter homes in other countries, these incidents quickly erode community goodwill.

Unwanted Encounter: Traffic Collision

Living in forest fringes forces many macaques into direct contact with drivers. Traffic collisions represent a deadly risk for macaques (and other wildlife) as they dodge vehicular traffic daily. While they are usually fleet-footed enough to avoid fatal situations, some inevitably fall victim to collision (as happened recently near Mandai Crematorium).

Encountering a fatal roadkill scene and witnessing grieving troopmates nearby during our volunteer surveys is heartbreaking for all of us at JGIS. Motorists can help prevent such human-wildlife conflicts by slowing down and remaining alert for wildlife especially when they are driving near forested areas.

A group of students from Spectra Secondary School participated in the JGIS Roots & Shoots programme and developed a series of public service stickers for wildlife conservation, including this one to remind motorists to drive carefully near nature areas. (Photo credit: Spectra Secondary School)

Mitigating Unwanted Encounters

We cannot expect residents to simply tolerate home intrusions, nor can we ask drivers to avoid roads near forests altogether. Instead, one way we can manage these conflicts is through smart structural design. By strategically planning and modifying physical spaces, such as buildings, roadways, and barriers, we can minimise direct negative interactions and create a safer environment for everyone.

Safe Crossings: More than restoring ecological connectivity, eco-links, ropeways, and culverts can provide alternative and safer ways for macaques and other wildlife to cross roads to access the resources they need instead of risking their lives to cross at ground level.  Meanwhile, placing “animal crossing” signs near nature spaces reminds motorists to be mindful of macaques and other wildlife that might be nearby and to slow down, potentially turning fatal collisions into near-misses.

Ropeways provide alternative and safer ways for wildlife, including the Raffles’ banded langur, to cross roads to access the resources they need instead of risking their lives to cross at ground level. (Photo credit: Sabrina Jabbar)

Spatial Distancing: Good estate design prevents unwanted human-macaque encounters, which reduces the likelihood of conflicts. For example, placing garbage collection points, playgrounds, and bus stops away from known macaque routes; locating dining areas away from forest edges; and fencing off food waste disposal areas can create distance between monkeys and humans and remove the temptations that attract macaques to human areas. Such planned distancing goes a long way in mitigating human-macaque conflicts.

JGIS volunteers often encounter long-tailed macaques investigating garbage dumpsters in condo developments near forested areas. To prevent such scavenging behaviour, we suggest to condo management companies to locate garbage bins in enclosed areas inaccessible to monkeys. (Photo credit: Areefah Abdul Karim)

Entry Barriers: We can also mitigate unpleasant encounters by denying macaques access to human food. For example, adding grilles and locks on windows will block macaques’ access to homes even if they manage to climb up highrise blocks, which I have seen many times. Additionally, homeowners can lock or tie down their rubbish bins with bungee cords and estate managers can install specially designed monkey-proof rubbish bins. These precautions might not be a panacea against all negative interactions, but removing easy sources of food also removes the incentive for macaques to make unwanted visits. By conditioning them that urban foraging and intrusions are futile, we can alter their long-term behaviour.

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To prevent curious and food-motivated long-tailed macaques from accessing disposed food in garbage bins in nature reserves, NParks have installed monkey-proof receptacles with lid doors that are not easy for monkeys to open and side doors that can be locked. (Photo credit: David Rigden)

Enhancing Core Habitats: As we remove access to human foods, we must also ensure macaques have natural food sources within the forests by enhancing their core habitats with native fruit trees. For example, by planting native fruit trees such as the mango tree in Punggol and nearby Coney Island, we can provide the resident troop of macaques secure and reliable food sources and reduce their foraging movements into nearby residential and commercial F&B areas. On a broader scale, existing nature areas should be preserved as buffers and fragmented forest patches should be reconnected to enhance natural foraging routes for wildlife. Macaques that have access to natural food sources away from residential areas are less likely to explore neighbourhoods where people live, reducing the risk of conflict.

When there are reliable and secure food sources within their forest habitats, long-tailed macaques are less likely to scavenge in residential areas. (Photo credit: Stella Law)

Smart structural design — from safe eco-crossings to monkey-proof barriers to habitat enrichment — gives us a practical blueprint for long-tailed macaques to coexist with humans in our urban landscape. By denying macaques easy access to human food while enriching their natural forest homes, we directly address the root causes of home intrusions and roadkill incidents, transforming potential friction into peaceful boundaries.

Yet physical solutions only reach their full potential when paired with community outreach, education, and individual actions. Whether it is slowing down along forest fringe roads or securing our rubbish bins, simple actions safeguard both our neighborhoods and Singapore's native wildlife. Together with our partners at OWN, JGIS remains dedicated to shaping a landscape where humans and wildlife don't just share space, but thrive together peacefully.

Happy World Primate Day!