Rhesus macaque Rhesus macaque The rhesus macaque ("Macaca mulatta") is one of the best-known species of Old World monkeys. It is listed as Least Concern in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species in view of its wide distribution, presumed large population, and its tolerance of a broad range of habitats. Native to South, Central, and Southeast Asia, rhesus macaque have the widest geographic ranges of any nonhuman primate, occupying a great diversity of altitudes and a great variety of habitats, from grasslands to arid and forested areas, but also close to human settlements. The rhesus macaque is brown or grey in
Macaque and have become an invasive species in some human inhabited landscapes, such as the island of Mauritius and Silver Springs State Park in Florida. Macaques can be a threat to conservation, along with a threat to human wellbeing through carrying transmittable and fatal diseases. Currently, macaques as an invasive species are handled with several control methods. Aside from humans (genus "Homo"), the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to the Indian subcontinent, and in the case of the barbary macaque ("Macaca sylvanus"), to North Africa and Southern Europe. Twenty-three macaque species are currently recognized, all of