Baby Lion-tailed Macaque

The skin of the Lion-tailed Macaques is dark-brown or black, and their most outstanding characteristic is the silver-white mane which surrounds the head from the cheeks down to its chin, which gives this monkey its German name of "Beard Ape". The hairless face is black colored. With a head-to-tail length of 45 to 60 cm and a weight of 3 to 10 kg it ranks among the smaller macaques. The tail is medium length with a length of approximately 25 cm and is a black tuft at the end, similar to a lion's tail.

Lion-tailed Macaques are diurnal rain forest dwellers. They are good climbers and spend a majority of their life in the trees. Unlike other macaques, they avoid humans. In their group behavior they are much like other macaques: they live in hierarchical groups of usually ten to twenty animals, which consist of some males and many females. They are territorial animals, defending their area first with loud crys towards the invading troops. If this proves fruitless, they brawl aggressively.

Lion-tailed Macaques nourish themselves primarily of fruits, but also eat leaves, buds, insects and small vertebrates.