Magical Macaque Photographer 

Mogens Trolle was in Indonesia’s Tangkoko Batuangus Nature Reserve recently photographing Celebes crested macaques when one curious critter decided it wanted a better look at his camera. Mr Trolle says the primate stood behind his camera, peering into it, checking out the button, turning it around as if it were a professional photographer. The equipment was not damaged by the macaque and following its inspection of the camera it quickly returned to more important monkey business.

Unique looking creatures

The Celebes crested macaque, also known as the Sulawesi crested macaque, crested black macaque or black ape is a critically endangered monkey species that makes its home on the Northeastern tip of Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island in the monsoon forest. The monkeys are very unique looking, featuring red orange eyes that are very striking and a long tuft of hair on their heads that really makes them funny looking things. They are a social species, living groups with the vast majority of their time on the ground foraging for food.

Copyright battle

If this particular fella seems awfully familiar it’s because one of its cousins that took the famous selfie set of the internet’s perhaps most famous copyright battle. Eight years ago, a snap happy macaque managed to get its fingers on the camera of a photographer at an Indonesian park. The primate went on to take hundreds of macaque selfies. The snapshot of the grinning monkey went viral almost immediately, generating thousands of memes and a bitter copyright battle with Wikimedia. This time round, there was no controversy because the monkey did not hit the shutter button.