Monkey Problem at Home or in Your Estate? What to Do About Macaques in Singapore

The forest gives a macaque troop the food it needs. Problems start when the troop finds easier, richer food next door, and once it does, it learns where to come back to.

• People feeding them: a major driver. Monkeys that link people with food become bolder and start to expect it.
• Bins and rubbish: open or overflowing bins, bags left beside a full bin and open bin centre doors. Macaques are clever with their hands and can lift ordinary bin lids that are not strapped down.
• Fruit trees: ripe fruit in gardens and on estate grounds.
• Food left out: groceries on a counter, snacks on a balcony, pet food, and fruit or offerings by a window or door.
• Open windows and doors: an easy way in, even on upper floors. Macaques are strong climbers and move easily across walls, pipes, railings and balconies.
• Location: estates and condos beside nature reserves, forest patches and parks see the most visits.

Most macaques would rather avoid trouble, and calm, quiet behaviour from you usually keeps it that way.

• Stay calm and quiet. Do not shout, wave your arms or make sudden movements.
• Keep at least 5 metres away, about the length of a car.
• Do not stare. A macaque may see direct eye contact as a challenge, so look away.
• Hide food and plastic bags, which macaques link with food. If one grabs your bag, let go of it.
• Back away slowly. Do not turn around and run.
• Never corner a monkey or block its way out, and give mothers with babies extra room.
• Keep children close and dogs on a short lead.
• Do not chase, hit or throw things at it, and do not move closer for a photo.

A macaque inside a home is usually looking for food. The aim is to let it leave on its own, not to fight it for the food.

• Stay calm, keep your voice low and avoid eye contact.
• Make sure it has a clear way out, such as the open window or door it came in through. Never stand between a monkey and its exit.
• Move everyone, including children, helpers and pets, out of the room and close the internal door behind you.
• Do not try to take back food it has grabbed. Let it keep the food.
• Do not chase it, hit it or try to catch it.
• Call or WhatsApp ESC on +65 9149 1408. In a condo or HDB block, also tell the guardhouse, management office or town council so neighbours can close their windows.
• Once it has gone, close the windows on that side and put food away. Note the time, as troops often pass by at similar times of day.

ESC rates the long-tailed macaque KEEP CLEAR: give it at least 5 metres. A Singapore study found that physical contact between macaques and people is rare, and most macaques keep out of trouble. They can bite or scratch when they are cornered, threatened, guarding a baby, or used to getting food from people. Monkeys that have learned to link people with food are the ones most likely to grab bags and come into homes.

Learn the warning signs. A hard stare with raised eyebrows is a warning, and an open-mouthed stare is a threat. Short, fake lunges towards you mean you are too close. A wide grin showing the teeth signals fear, not friendliness. Whatever the signal, look away and back off slowly.

Not every monkey is a macaque. Singapore's only other wild monkey, the Raffles' banded langur, is dark grey to black with white fur down its chest and belly. It is very rare and shy, and stays high in the trees of the Central Catchment forest. ESC rates it HARMLESS: leave it be, enjoy it from a distance and never feed it.

Feeding is behind many monkey problems, and it usually follows the same pattern. A monkey gets food from a person, a bin or a balcony. It comes back with the troop. It becomes bolder around people, then may start entering homes, snatching bags and threatening people carrying food. A Singapore study also found that troops living close to people, many of them used to being fed, tend to be larger.

Feeding wildlife, including macaques, is an offence under Singapore's Wildlife Act, anywhere in Singapore. Please ask family members, helpers, visitors and neighbours not to feed them. The forest has the food a macaque needs, and visits become far less frequent once the easy food is gone.

No food, fewer visits. These habits make your home far less interesting to a passing troop:

• Close windows and doors, including kitchen and bathroom windows, when monkeys are around or when nobody is home.
• Fit window mesh or grilles on the forest-facing side, so you keep the breeze without letting monkeys in. In a condo, check your MCST by-laws first.
• Keep food out of sight, in cabinets, the fridge or closed opaque containers, never on a counter by an open window.
• Keep fruit, snacks and offerings indoors and away from windows and balconies, including during festive periods.
• Double-knot rubbish bags, close the refuse chute hopper, and keep bin lids strapped or clipped shut.
• Feed pets indoors, do not leave pet food bowls outside, and keep pet doors latched when not in use.
• Pick ripe fruit from garden trees regularly, or cover it with an opaque cover such as a gunny sack.
• Carry groceries in a cloth bag or backpack rather than a plastic bag, and close the windows before you unpack shopping or start cooking.

One household cannot change a troop's habits on its own. Estates with repeat visits often have a food source somewhere on the grounds, and most of the fixes are good housekeeping:

• Bins: use bins with lids that lock, or lids secured with straps or bungee cords, in common areas. Clear overflowing bins and any bags left beside them promptly.
• Bin centre routines: keep bin centre doors and chute hoppers shut, wash down food spills, and make sure full bins are not left standing open before collection.
• Grounds: harvest ripe fruit on estate trees, and clear BBQ pits, function rooms and poolside tables after use.
• Resident notices: explain why feeding keeps monkeys coming back and that it is an offence under the Wildlife Act. Repeat the reminder around festivals, when fruit and food offerings are left out.
• Forest-edge blocks: remind residents in units facing the forest to close windows and doors when the troop is around, and set out your estate's rules on window mesh and grilles clearly.
• Staff briefing: guards, cleaners and gardeners should keep back, never chase, corner or throw things at monkeys, note where the troop goes and tell management.
• Sighting log: record the date, time, place, number of monkeys and what they were doing. A few weeks of records show when the troop visits and what draws it in.

Bites are uncommon, but treat every monkey bite or scratch seriously, however small. Wounds can become infected, and macaques can carry herpes B virus. Human cases are extremely rare, but the infection can be serious, so a doctor needs to check any bite or scratch. This is general first aid information, not medical advice.

• If there is heavy bleeding, press firmly on the wound with a clean cloth and call 995.
• Otherwise, wash the wound straight away with soap and running water for at least 15 minutes.
• Cover it with a clean, dry dressing.
• See a doctor straight away and say it was a monkey. The doctor will decide whether you need further treatment.
• Do not ignore a small scratch, and do not try to catch or hit the monkey.
• If a pet is bitten or scratched, take it to a vet.

If macaques keep coming back to your home, condo or estate, the answer is rarely a one-off visit. It is finding out what draws the troop in and taking that away. ESC's wildlife team is led by certified wildlife specialists, and our wildlife services are built for town councils, MCSTs, facilities managers and private residences across Singapore.

Call or WhatsApp ESC on +65 9149 1408 to talk through what you are seeing. A photo or short video of the monkeys, and the times they visit, helps us advise you. Here is how we work:

• A site assessment to find what attracts the monkeys, such as bins, fruit trees and food left out, and the routes the troop uses to get in.
• Practical advice on bins and waste, fencing and access points, which your management team can share with staff and residents.
• Exclusion and habitat changes that make the site less attractive to a troop.
• Where capture or removal is the right answer, it is carried out by trained handlers, subject to the approvals each species requires.
• A photo-documented written report for your committee or records.