Roadside primates: Balancing risks and rewards in anthropogenic environments

Erin Riley

Professor, Anthropology, San Diego State University

In the contemporary era it is becoming increasingly difficult to find a primate population that has not experienced some form of anthropogenic influence. Primates living in anthropogenic spaces may benefit from access to novel food resources, such as agricultural crops or provisioned foods, but they also must deal with potential negative outcomes from the presence of humans and their activities. The complexity of these human-primate interfaces necessitates the use of interdisciplinary approaches that draw from both the natural and social sciences. In this talk, I will discuss my research on the human-macaque interface in Sulawesi, Indonesia, highlighting the mixed methods approaches my colleagues and I are using to examine how macaques and people are co-adapting to ever-expanding shared landscapes.