Qualified recovery care
Assess requests for appropriate veterinary examination, treatment, quarantine and nutrition through an authorised team. Any proposal must explain the animals’ origin, current condition and who is responsible for care.
Indonesia · Proposed appeal
Help Indonesia’s rescued macaques
A life beyond a chain or a performance needs skilled care and a lasting plan. Explore how responsible support could help macaques recover and reduce the pressures that brought them into captivity.
Planning stage · No dedicated collection open
In brief
WARN is exploring a proposed appeal for macaque welfare in Indonesia, including animals affected by pet keeping and dancing-monkey performances. Possible support includes qualified care, rehabilitation and prevention. No dedicated collection is open and no recipient or budget has been approved.
By WARN Editorial Team Checked against the primary sources listed below Last updated
Funding status
What is confirmed, and what comes next?
This is a proposed cause for WARN to assess. No dedicated fundraising collection is open, no recipient has been selected and no costed project or funding target has been approved.
- Dedicated collection
- Not open
- Recipient
- Not selected
- Budget and goal
- Not approved
- WARN-funded activity
- None claimed for this proposal
The organisations cited below provide evidence of their own work. They are not named recipients of this proposal. Existing donations to WARN’s other appeals do not automatically become funds for this cause. Read our recipient-selection policy and grant register.
Why rescue is the beginning of care
International Animal Rescue describes long-tailed macaques in Indonesia being kept as pets and used for entertainment, alongside other pressures on wild populations. Its account of YIARI’s programme explains a pathway involving veterinary attention, behavioural assessment and social rehabilitation. Some individuals can return to appropriate habitat; others need continuing care. Read IAR’s programme account.
For a proposed WARN grant, the important question is what a specific team can responsibly deliver for the animals in its care. A dramatic rescue photograph cannot explain an animal’s health, history or future. An assessment would need those details, the necessary authority and a budget that reaches beyond the first day.
Former dancing monkeys need an individual pathway
Topeng monyet is commonly translated as dancing-monkey performance. JAAN describes work to rehabilitate former performers, including carefully managed social groups. Its account also recognises that some animals require permanent care. This is evidence of JAAN’s work, not a claim that WARN has funded a rehabilitation centre or a monkey’s release. Read JAAN’s account.
A future appeal would need to make room for different outcomes. The proposal should explain how welfare is assessed, who makes decisions and what resources remain available if an animal cannot be released. Support for continuing care should be described plainly, with the same accountability as support for rehabilitation.
Preventing harm also involves people and places
In May 2026, Universitas Gadjah Mada reported a YIARI-led event on human–macaque interactions, public perceptions and research. This illustrates the need for cooperation among local communities, authorities, practitioners and researchers. It does not establish a WARN programme at the university. Read UGM’s report.
A September 2026 review of Indonesian long-tailed-macaque research identified remaining gaps in nationwide population information, long-term trends and coexistence research. A visibly large group at a tourist site should therefore not be treated as a nationwide population estimate. This page does not provide a new national census. Read the research review.
Possible support
What could a future appeal support?
These are proposed areas to assess, rather than funded activities or promised outcomes. A credible local proposal would determine the eventual location, scope and costs.
Rehabilitation and continuing welfare
Consider suitable enclosures, behavioural assessment, carefully managed socialisation and experienced keepers. Budgets must address continuing care when an animal cannot safely return to the wild.
Prevention and coexistence
Assess locally designed work to reduce demand for pet or performing macaques and improve human–macaque interactions. A useful proposal needs a defined community, practical activities and a way to review the response.
What must happen before fundraising opens?
A useful appeal needs an accountable route from a defined need to practical support. These questions guide the proposed assessment.
Confirm species, origin and legal responsibility
Identify the macaques and their location, who has authority to care for them and how that authority is documented. A photograph or rescue story alone cannot establish an organisation’s eligibility for funding.
Check expertise and the individual welfare plan
Establish veterinary oversight, experienced care staff, disease precautions and suitable accommodation. Assess how each animal’s welfare and behaviour will be monitored and how any group introductions will be managed.
Budget for the full care commitment
Request costs, capacity and a feasible timetable for the proposed work. A release target must not determine an animal’s outcome. Where continuing care may be necessary, explain how that responsibility will be sustained.
Agree evidence, reporting and collection terms
Before opening a dedicated collection, publish the approved purpose, scope, recipient status and terms. Require suitable spending records and welfare reporting, with sensitive animal locations and personal information protected.
Work with animals in Indonesia?
Use WARN’s existing enquiry route to describe your organisation, the place and animals involved, the unmet need and an indicative budget. An enquiry does not guarantee a grant. Please leave bank details, identity documents and sensitive wildlife locations out of your initial message.
Share an organisation’s needsHow to help now
Choose observation over handling
Avoid paid photos, performances and encounters that depend on handling or dressing a macaque. Follow local rules around wild groups, keep food secure and give animals space.
Explore ethical wildlife tourismReport concerns responsibly
Contact the relevant wildlife authority or an established authorised responder. Share a factual description and location privately. Do not buy, seize, transport or release a macaque yourself.
Read the macaque-help guideShare a sourced explanation
Help others understand why pet and performance content can hide welfare problems. Share the sources and this page’s planning status. Avoid reposting humiliating or exploitative clips just to increase their reach.
Share the issue with contextQuestions about this proposed appeal
Can I donate to this proposed macaque appeal now?
No dedicated WARN collection is open. No recipient, costed proposal or funding goal has been approved. This page explains the need, possible support and the assessment required before fundraising. Support given directly to another organisation follows that organisation’s own terms.
What is topeng monyet?
Topeng monyet refers to trained-monkey street performances, often called dancing-monkey performances in English. JAAN documents rehabilitation work with former performers. An animal’s ability to perform is not evidence that its welfare needs are being met.
Are macaques the same as orangutans?
No. Macaques are monkeys; orangutans are apes. They require different species-appropriate care. This proposed appeal is separate from WARN’s orangutan and Kalimantan fire appeals, and it does not redirect donations already given to those purposes.
Can every rescued macaque be released?
No. Release requires individual professional assessment and appropriate authorisation. JAAN describes animals needing continuing care as well as animals rehabilitated for release. A future WARN appeal would not promise a release for each animal or each donation.
Are IAR, YIARI or JAAN selected WARN recipients?
No. They are cited for their own published work, not announced as WARN recipients. Any future grant requires checks, a funding decision and published records. No such agreement is established by this page.
How can an organisation put forward a need?
Use /about/grant-selection/#enquire to introduce the organisation, relevant work, location, unmet need and indicative budget. Do not include bank information, identity documents or sensitive wildlife locations in an initial message. An enquiry does not guarantee funding.
Sources and evidence
Sources reviewed on . Publication dates describe the source reports; they do not establish a current WARN project or a funding agreement.
- International Animal Rescue — macaque rescue and rehabilitation in Indonesia
IAR describes YIARI’s programme and the needs of macaques affected by capture, pet keeping and exploitation.
- Jakarta Animal Aid Network — rehabilitation of former topeng monyet performers
Background on JAAN’s programme, including social rehabilitation and care for individuals unsuitable for release. Historical counts on this undated page are not used as current totals.
- UGM Faculty of Forestry — macaque coexistence and research event, 11 May 2026
Reports a 6 May YIARI event at Universitas Gadjah Mada on mitigating negative human–macaque interactions and research opportunities.
- Mardiastuti and colleagues — Long-Tailed Macaques in Indonesia, 4 September 2026
A review of research published through August 2024; identifies gaps in nationwide population data, trends and coexistence research. It is not a new nationwide census.
Have a correction or a newer primary source? Contact WARN with the page address and supporting information.