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Abstract

In 2022, long‐tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis), a once ubiquitous primatespecies, was elevated to Endangered on the International Union for Conservation ofNature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. In 2023, recognizing that the long‐tailed macaque is threatened by multiple factors: (1) declining native habitats acrossSoutheast Asia; (2) overutilization for scientific, commercial, and recreationalpurposes; (3) inadequate regulatory mechanisms; and (4) culling due tohuman–macaque conflicts, a petition for rulemaking was submitted to the UnitedStates Fish and Wildlife Service to add the species to the US Endangered SpeciesAct, the nation's most effective law to protect at risk species. The long‐tailedmacaque remains unprotected across much of its geographical range despite thedocumented continual decline of the species and related sub‐species and the recentIUCN reassessment. This commentary presents a review of the factors that havecontributed to the dramatic decline of this keystone species and makes a case forraising the level of protection they receive.