News

December

Last week, as part of the ongoing international exchange project, some of my lab students, along with two students from Dr. Murayama’s lab (WRC), participated in a rewarding exchange trip to Thailand. The students presented their research at the Biodiversity and Wildlife 2025 Symposium at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, where two of our students won the poster presentation award!

Before the symposium, the group spent several days observing stump-tailed macaques in Phetchaburi with Dr. Aru Toyoda (Assistant Professor, WRC). They also conducted a vegetation survey with Dr. Satoru Sugita from IDEAS, Chubu University, and concluded the excursion with a tour of the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand.

November

Through the international exchange project I organised, 13 foreign researchers and students from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand were invited to Japan from 15th to 19th November 2025. Co-hosted with the PWS (Leading Program in Primatology and Wildlife Science) Symposium, an international workshop was held at Kyoto University and included an excursion to the Kyoto City Zoo. Subsequently, the group moved to the Inuyama Campus to gain practical insights into primate biology. 

September

We are thrilled to share the preprint of our latest study: "Impact of Group Size and Habitat Disturbance of Parasitic Infection in Free-ranging Proboscis Monkeys."

In this research, we explored how group size and habitat disturbance influence intestinal parasite infections in wild proboscis monkeys along the tributaries in the Kinabatangan River, Sabah, Malaysia. Using fecal egg counts and Bayesian modeling, we found that different parasite species respond in unique ways to social and environmental factors--some thrive in larger groups, while others are influenced by how disturbed the habitat is.

This study involved one of our Master's students, Fitri Suhaimi, and Liesbeth Frias together with fantastic team of collaborators: Elke Zimmermann, Primus Lambut, Joseph Tangah, Henry Bernard, Vijay Kumar and our lab's PI Ikki Matsuda. 

Check out the full findings in our preprint: [https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.05.21.655443]