Overcoming adversity
A lesson from nature
🏷️ Categories: Creativity, Learning, Biology
“Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” ~Horace
Introduction
The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a drastic change in people’s lives, with disruptions to social interactions, widespread isolation, and many other psychological and economic hardships. Interestingly, this globally significant event also affected the animal kingdom in completely unpredictable ways. Let me tell you the inspiring story of some monkeys whose lives were changed by the pandemic.
Never Stagnate
Amidst this dystopian world in which we found ourselves immersed during the pandemic, when we were all suddenly confined to our homes, on the other side of the world, on Koh Ped Island, Thailand, some long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) were also experiencing changes.
This species of macaques has inhabited these paradisiacal islands for a long time (Fooden, 1995), and they are adapted to their environment. However, due to tourism, their diet had been significantly altered in recent times. They relied on the food left by visitors who came to the island daily. However, with the mobility restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, the island suddenly became deserted for months. Overnight, one of the main sources of food for the macaques had disappeared.
The macaques, accustomed to the easy food provided by tourists, had artificially increased their numbers, surpassing the number of individuals that the ecosystem could naturally sustain. Like us, they had to adapt to a new reality, which involved learning a new skill to survive and eat (Marshall, 2024).
The macaques quickly learned to use stones to open oysters (Saccostrea cucullata) on the now-empty beaches once frequented by tourists, as an alternative way to obtain food (Muhammad et al., 2023). This technique was observed for the first time in nature when tourism restrictions were imposed in Thailand.
Turning Obstacles into Opportunities
But why now and not before? The answer is simple. According to the “need hypothesis” proposed by Fox et al. (1999), new behaviors emerge when individuals’ survival is at risk. Although they always had the potential to use their hands and break oysters with stones, it was adversity that drove them to excel. Adapt or die.
The Learned Lesson
The macaques of Koh Ped managed to adapt to sudden changes thanks to their adaptability, being flexible, and changing according to what the situation demanded. Like these animals, we all face challenges in life, but it is our ability to adapt that allows us to move forward. When you face difficulties, don’t close yourself off to the few tools you have; explore, try alternatives, innovate, create, learn, don’t stand still. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
📚 References
Fooden, J. (1995). Systematic review of southeast Asian longtail macaques, Macaca fascicularis (Raffles, [1821]). Fieldiana Zoology, 81, 1–206. https://doi.org/10.5962/bhl.title.3456
Marshall, M. (2024, January 4). Monkeys in Thailand took up stone tools when covid-19 stopped tourism. New Scientist. https://www.newscientist.com/article/2409075-monkeys-in-thailand-took-up-stone-tools-when-covid-19-stopped-tourism/
Muhammad, R., Kaikaew, T., Panjan, S., Meesawat, S., Thabthimthong, W., Payungporn, S., Apipattarachaiwong, J., Kanthaswamy, S., Hamada, Y., Luncz, L. V., & Malaivijitnond, S. (2023). Influence of COVID‐19 on the emergence of stone‐tool use behavior in a population of common long‐tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis fascicularis) in Thailand. American Journal Of Primatology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ajp.23580
Fox, E. A., Sitompul, A. F., & Van Schaik, C. P. (1999). Intelligent tool use in wild Sumatran orangutans. In S. T. Parker, R. W. Mitchell, & H. L. Miles (Eds.), The mentality of gorillas and orangutans (Vol. 480, pp. 99–116). Cambridge University Press.
My interpretation is the monkeys got lazy when life was easy. Hard times make hard monkeys. Easy times lazy and slovenly monkeys. They’re much better off without the tourist being lazy & slovenly leaving food scraps out and altering the balance that nature provides.
My personal response to the COVID hysteria was to ignore it and the restrictions being imposed by our 'superiors.' I did not wear masks, got out more, and refused to get inoculated. I did not 'get' COVID and did not allow myself to be intimidated, either by the preening sociopaths making rules for the stupid masses or by the stupid masses who blindly followed the misguided policies of the fearmongers-in-chief.