A young macaque is safe in the arms of his mother, for now. His future is bleak. As deforestation reduced their natural habitat, the monkeys moved closer to human settlements searching for food. It is wrong to blame and treat them as pests and intruders. We stole their homes and destroyed their natural food source.

They are killed through massive culling by shooting. Some of those caught are allegedly sold to restaurants and laboratories abroad. We need to embark or continue with some of the more humane methods such as relocation.

After all, they are very much like us. The mother hugs and cuddles her child when he’s sad. Happy Mother’s Day.

Olympus OM-D, ISO 200, f8, 1/500 sec.