is a lucrative business, but not without its problems. Plantations of palms, the fruit of which are crushed to release the oil, are usually there at the expense of rainforest. This does not go down well with environmentalists. Nor does it go down well with the rainforest’s inhabitants, some of whom, such as pig-tailed macaques, a species of monkey, raid the plantations to eat the palm fruit before it can be harvested.
Such raiding, naturally, invites retaliation by planters, who try to trap and relocate the animals, or scare them off with gunshots. But a study published inthis week, by Nadine Ruppert and Anna Holzner of the University of Sciences Malaysia, suggests such retaliation is a mistake. Far from driving monkeys away, plantation owners should welcome them, because monkeys help control a yet more important pest of oil palms—rats.
Previous reports suggest rats living in palm plantations consume around 10% of the fruit produced, so it crossed the researchers’ minds that, from a planter’s point of view, leaving the monkeys alone to act as rat controllers might actually make economic sense. And so, after a bit more work, it proved.
By comparing plantations whose owners did and did not discourage monkeys from visiting, Dr Ruppert and Ms Holzner found rat abundance in the former to be five times that in the latter. Overall, they calculated, tolerating monkeys would lead to a crop loss of about 2.5%, compared with the 10% toll that rats impose unhindered. And this is before the costs of control measures against the two species are considered.
For planters, then, the message of this work, as far as monkeys are concerned, is “live and let live”. Though macaques do charge a fee in fruit for their services, that fee is a small price to pay for the benefits they provide.section of the print edition under the headline
Fake news
Remember the movie, 'King Rat', in which George Seagal's character raised and fed rats to the prison officials and e acquired wealth, power and influence among his fellow prisoners. Yum yum!
I am sure these are ancestors of Chinese people. Do I sound racist, then I can't help it.
FCK , Go to HELL.
Guys please don’t eat monkeys
Eating mice and others has not been shown to be the cause of this disease. The disease has been dramatized
Chinese monkeys
That is a fucking metal article image.
美国人喜欢吃老鼠？
Hmmm...
Oh yeah, gonna get me a barn monkey.
We certainly like electing them too.
betweenartandquarantine GettyMuseumChallenge
We eat snails, frogs legs, scorpions, lambs, unborn chicks, offal and swallow gammon centric opinion. 🤭 some will swallow anything, you print. Others eat what’s available or die. Grow up.
I like this guy !
Yuck but it’s a good thing really, keeps the rat population in check. Deforestation & mass animal extinction could lead us to be overrun with rats.
Put a troop of the things in Parliament when it reopens. Should fix a lot of political problems and keep the monkeys happy too.
photo from PDChinaLife ftchina ChinaEmbPoland lunch
that is just chinese take out on Tuesdays
Chinese monkeys.
I *FKN* HATE rats.
What’s the difference between this primate & a human eating BBQ! Can someone please explain?
I feel like there is a larger metaphor here but at present I’m looking at the bored monkey eating a rat.
'Oh, sure. Keep blaming US' - bats
This has been a Trump administration science update.
🤮🤮🤮
That would put the Chinese at par with monkeys, and both are unpredictable ~
If human beings in far east like China or Philippines eat rats , Don't you think that monkeys do it 😏
Stop eating rats 🤦🏻♂️🤦🏻♂️ stupid monkey
'Oh Rats!'
and Can this explain to us about the Ebola outbreak in previous years? and that is very impressive about the monkeys, by the way who writes the tweets? Why do I love that guy?
Monkeys will eat monkeys , naughty little monkeys
That looks like a baboon to me.
Yeah, but what kind of monkeys? 20SP1371
By trying to fix one problem, they made another problem worse. Some smart guys told them to leave things alone. The only thing the others guys heard was that they would make more money. They leave things alone. Things get better naturally. Moral of the story. leave stuff alone..
Well, if that is the case then send some to the Big Apple
Don't let those monkeys around Mayor Pete
Haha, you sure know how to make people unfollow you! Ciao!
Another virus in the making
alllibertynews Geesh
Don’t stab me.
I don’t know if the idea of liking it, is a bit gross in a weird way
That explains why Bembas and Ngonis are in chimbuya ai?
Yet another reason not to kiss monkeys.
Maymunda çinliler gibi sıçan 🐀 yiyor
NYC needs more monkeys
And rats carry coronavirus
So do baboons
Sounds like the perfect formula for a plague.
Dear, wanna know more? Please, follow didnotyouknow7 👍😊
Load them on buses and get them to WM, it’s full o rats
Is that the most appropriate cover photo?
lc2907 erm wtf
no so vegan .... even the monkeys eat meat... and bananas
The Economist, thank you
Looks like Hillary but with “Suicides”
even better: plantation proprietors profit by not persecuting primates
Chinese ryuhasan
And that’s how the coronavirus spreaded In Asian they ate monkeys,bats and rats
Win win.
JonahDispatch Suggestion for our large urban centers, and its environmentally friendly too.
What happened to bananas🤷🏽
🤮🤮🤮🤮🤮 I didn't want to see this, seriously.
can I order a few dozen to patrol the DC streets?
I’m buying one of these monkeys 🐵 with the hope it can sort out the problem under my kitchen floorboards. 🐀
Horrific tale of violence by monkeys against small defenseless rats. GoVegan
Get’em to China...
benlandis 😂A monkey munching on a rat🐒🐁 yummy😋 perfect w/my coffee this morning DavidSpade LightsOut WhoseRyanStiles colinmochrie aishatyler SaraBareilles ingridmusic christinaperri OfficialJLD IJasonAlexander Morning_Joe SRuhle📰 'Hey joe...u c this sh't'😂👇
you did not need that much alliteration in the the title
So much for stereotypes about monkeys and bananas.
Divino!
lol, take that vegans! XDDD
Prepared with a nice pepper sauce and properly braised one hopes
We know what your play on words symbolizes. Yahweh rebuke you!
Happy Year of the Rat for us in Asia!
JonahDispatch
What happened to bananas?
I’m sorry the headline we were looking for was actually Plantation Proprieters Pursue Potential Profits, Pause Primate Persecution So close though!
I don't think I needed that info and visual 😐
Aw how cute would it be if we had monkeys all over cities to deal with rat infestations.
JonahDispatch Thanks a lot.
Thank God we are not monkeys!
ricardoalmag
Send them to Washington post haste
Like Chinese ppl?
some of them could be warmly invited in White House ?
Thank you I definitely needed that image with my morning coffee. Why do I still follow y'all, again?
This is not a monkey
The cycle of life
Why don’t New York City Council imports these primates to control rat population in New York.
These mentioning Chinese,simply hope you understand not every Chinese eat these disgusting stuffs. Just like not every American randomly pick up a gun and shoot your neighbors.
It turns out white people's favorite activity is stealing countries, among other things.
This is a little bit racist tbh
No reference to politics across the pond!
Well who knew right? 🤔
So you are telling me that monkeys are omnivores as well?! Take that vegans!
🤯
Sopa do macaco uma delicia
This picture will hurt Chinese 😂
They are Chinese?
Put them to work in Parliament then.
No more bananas
When nature gives you hot pockets... you eat hot pockets. If it’s good enough for cats... I’m assuming that’s who we learned it from in the first place. Pussy has always been the worst influence. Inflates monkey with delusions of prandeur.
Monkeys, be careful of infection.
Evolution at work! If these monkeys eat rats, humans won’t kill them 🤷🏼♂️ sad but probably true.
©Please be careful. the Chinese government is lying. An infected person can carry the virus without showing symptoms.
😳
that's racist
Are you trying to say something,.racist?
So do some humans. Pretty sure the health risks are high with all these viruses nowadays coming from people eating all sorts of creatures (bats, mice, snakes, etc.)
I don't think I like what is going on here.
Monkey scratch the asses and eat the bugs they find within
And that is the reason why we don't eat monkeys. Or do we?
Why I see this article in my timeline EVERY DAY? It's a DISTURBIN IMAGE.
Toast on a stick.
JyotikaRajput5
Owls are enthusiastic at rat control, and don't raid the crop on the side.
It's a monkey eating a rat. This is never going to end well.
Please send these monkeys to any port city on any coast anywhere. Once you get them there send them on rat patrols.
Our mission at is to build the social news network that ends fake news. Follow us Overlooked_Inc
E o pior ... O selvagem não tem doença que o doméstico tem
blegh gnrosenberg
Set some loose in Baltimore NYC and SAN FRAN too.
'Whooped them good this time didn't we Josie'!!!
Owls eat more rats than monkeys do, and don't raid the crop.
genetic_warrior Is that shitty trump? Looks like him. Which one is he?
El Hombre ha sido una molestia para el planeta por millones de años...
The human is the greater pest.
OMG that photo 🐒🐀
Owls control rats too, and don't eat the crop
That pic reminds me of :
Palm oil plantations are an abomination.
That´s absolutely TRUE!!!
Why would anyone hurt a primate, ever?
A rat-proof fence exists.
Stop putting this pic in my timeline
Boy do I love the look of boredom in the monkey's eyes as he proceeds to chew off the rat's head. It's nothing short of poetry.
This is oddly disturbing...
They eat the rats, but who eats the monkeys?
Broke the law of humanitarian protection of animals. He should stun first and then bite off the rat's head.
Fear not. Everyone knows that animal protein consumption goes against Gaia's 'feel good' creed and will result in the calcification of the primates arteries, leading the hideous beastie to draw his last breaths cursing his (sorry, their) ignorance of this self evident fact
DuncanCastles Stop the palm oil industry. Would be better off without.
They’re a nuisance to the plantations that destroyed their habitats? Wow! How myopic. All of that for a cheap additive.
News with a hidden agenda!
Can you PLEASE take this horrific photograph down?
🤨🤨🤔
Let the Mafia know...
Didn't know they eat meat!!!
Jeez what kind of outbreak is going to develop from this 🤢
As does Felix
They'd enjoy themselves in Parliament.
NYC
Looks like someone in the transgender bathroom. You know they like to eat in there? Give birth and everything.
Just what NYC needs.
😬
The Economist is getting ready for Halloween.
That dead eye stare -- I know this. Eating over-broiled chicken at home on Sunday afternoon instead of going out to eat sopapillas at the kids table with the Sunday-school gang at Poncho's after church.
As long as they don’t think humans are tasty.
サトゥルヌス猿
OMG.
“The Economist”
Scarcity of bananas
Bet all the vegan monkeys are losing their minds.
Again, respect for animals only being considered when it benefits people’s interests. And the copy of the tweet moves the attention away from the important critique about the relation of big monoculture plantations and biodiversity, lack of critical analysis.
La economia gringa.
Peter Piper Picked a Peck of Pickled Peppers
But primates certainly profit by eating rodents. Yum, yum.
alllibertynews Can’t say why but, I feel this may have a bad end 🤷♂️
Grouse
mariapis80 crunch!
Now this is the real Economist I know, conditioning environmental practices on profit, not that fascists-are-too-extreme speech crap. Capitalism until the end of times! (Which increasingly seems like it's a few more decades)
Oh how nice. So they let meat eating monkeys remain but not the vegetarian orangutan. That’s discrimination! I’m calling the UN.
They will even bite off living rats’ heads for bets😬 Cool!
🤮
Feels like the origin story of some sort of zombie outbreak film.
Some deep Goya stuff happening there.
Umm... Monkey schnik-schnak.
cool
I'm glad we evolved to the point where we invented cooking
Creepy pic
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