Date of Birth: 2007
Place of Birth: Unknown
Arrival at MONA: 2007
Titín´s story
He was found abandoned and chained to a railing at an apartment complex in Logroño. It is unknown where he came from but it is easy to assume he came from illegal wildlife trafficking.
Past
Titin came to MONA at about six months of age and was the third macaque to arrive. Right from the beginning he was exhibiting behaviors of auto-aggression and found stressful many situations.
His adaptation to the group was not easy. Despite his young age, the two females were very harsh on him. However, once he was integrated and accepted, he became the darling of the group and was often seen squeezed between the two females on cold winter days.
Present
Without a definite position in the group, he is often seen threatening and attacking his own foot or arm. This behavior is typical of self-harm in macaques who lack balance due to emotional deprivation caused by early separation from the mother and the social group.
Titin wants to become second in command, often trying to provoke fights between the two females.
As for his physical appearance, he has changed a lot. He is an adult macaque with stunning canines.
His social life
He gets easily stressed out and social interaction can be quite complicated. He is definitely interested in his hierarchy status and wants to position himself. However, the more he tries, the more he gets stressed and the more stressed he is, the more he engages in abnormal behaviors.
Likes
- Titin loves carrots, lentils and fresh grass.
- Every day he throws sticks at visitors, caregivers or the chimpanzees in the opposite enclosure. His technique is similar to that of the Olympic hammer throwers: holds the stick at one end, makes very fast turns until he has momentum, then throws it against the fence.
Fun Facts
- When Titin greets the caregivers, he adopts the same mode as with macaques, chattering teeth.
- When Titin was younger, we caught Juanito, the chimpanzee, throwing him carrots to eat from the opposite enclosure.
- When the chimpanzees fight, Titin joins in by throwing sticks towards them or running up and down along the fence of the enclosure, making big displays.
Titín´s group
He belongs to the only group of macaques living permanently in MONA. The group is formed by two females and one male and is led by Pipa.
