Are Macaques Dangerous?

This is one of the most common questions people ask — are macaques dangerous?

It’s also one of the main things bringing people to this site, so I want to answer it properly, based on real experience.

I’ve worked closely with long-tailed macaques for over a year, caring for and being around more than 60 individual monkeys. So this isn’t theory — it’s what I’ve seen, learned, and experienced first-hand.

Of course, every situation is different. But if you’re wondering whether macaques are dangerous, or what they’re actually like up close, here’s the honest answer.

First, let’s get back to basics. Macaques are primates — just like us. And that means, like humans, they all have very individual personalities.

What macaques also have, however, are deeply entrenched wild instincts that cannot (generally) be domesticated. This is why they make such awful pets, and I will never understand why people think a long-tailed macaque will make a good one.

Once they hit adolescence — and yes, this can be as early as around 6 months old — the cute baby monkey is gone. What you’re left with is a wild animal… one that doesn’t want to be tamed.

Have I met calmer macaques? Yes, absolutely. These do tend to be females, and funnily enough, they often seem to be the slightly chubbier ones. I don’t know if that’s coincidence or not — but it’s something I’ve noticed.

Females in general can be calmer, but that is by no means a rule. I’ve had several female macaques go in for a bite. That said, they are usually smaller in build, so even if they did attack, they’re less likely to cause the same level of damage as a large alpha male with huge canines.

And males — especially alphas — do tend to be much more aggressive. That’s just part of macaque instinct. They are highly hierarchical animals, and their social structure is absolutely fundamental to how they function.

This is another reason they make terrible pets. Without that natural social hierarchy, they can become completely dysregulated and (I assume) place themselves as the “alpha” because there’s no competition. And that often leads to aggression — even towards the human who has cared for them.

There was one female macaque who completely challenged this idea for me. Her name was Elluh. We rescued her after she had been tied to a tree stump for seven years.

Elluh was aggressive — I even have a video of her on my YouTube. But not just aggressive… extremely so. Physically, she was built like an alpha male. She also had large canine teeth, which I’d only ever really seen on males — and alpha males at that.

I still don’t know why. Whether that’s how she would have developed naturally, or whether it was some kind of response to her trauma — being taken as a baby and kept like that — I honestly don’t know. I don’t think I ever will.

So… are macaques dangerous?

A better question might be: are macaques aggressive? And the answer to that is yes.

By nature, they are.

Some less than others. Some much more so. Out of the 60+ macaques I’ve worked with, I’d say I’d feel comfortable being in an enclosure with maybe 40% of them. And even then, that would only be after months of building a relationship that slightly reduces their aggression.

I’ve also had to learn how macaques read us — even when we don’t realise it.

Something as simple as smiling can be seen as an aggressive expression. So I’ve learnt to either look down submissively, or use a sort of upward “kissing” motion — which is how macaques show submission to each other.

I never give direct eye contact to aggressive males.

I’ve had an alpha gently grooming my arms — calm, relaxed, completely fine. Then he looks up, I accidentally catch his eye… and suddenly it’s teeth, grabbing, tension. It changes that quickly. Their instincts are that reactive.

So to draw some kind of conclusion — despite genuinely loving macaques, and loving being around them — I am very cautious of them in the wild.

Because they don’t know me, and I don’t know them. And for most macaques, aggression is the default response to something unfamiliar.

“Dangerous” suggests they could seriously harm or even kill us. Personally, I don’t think that’s likely (although I definitely wouldn’t want to test those canines).

But if you’re asking can macaques be dangerous to humans? — could they attack easily, and sometimes without much warning?

I have to say… 100% yes.

And here's an example of how every macaque is different!

Tommy (who is sadly no longer with us) was a large, alpha male.. aggressive to most... but not me! He was soft as butter to me but would happily attack 99% of the human species.

Sometimes there is no logic! But gosh he was adorable!