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Historically Japanese macaques were known as
raiju (mythical beasts) and were the keepers
of Raijin, the god of lightening and company
in Shinto belief.
There’s lots of snow in New
England right now so I thought it would be
fitting to write a blog on a primate that
lives and thrives in a snowy habitat. Out of
the 60 species and sub-species of macaques
the Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata)
is the most northern occupying non-human
primate surviving in temperatures that drop
to as low as 14 degrees during the winter
months. Macaca fuscata is found in
subalpine,
deciduous and evergreen forests in the
mountains of Japan. Today there are an
estimated 150,000 snow monkeys living in
Japan. Diets of these
Old World
Monkeys include: berries, invertebrates,
eggs, bark, leaves, roots and buds.
Japanese macaques live in
matrilineal
troops ranging from 20 to 100 individuals
which are ruled by an alpha female and alpha
male. Females typically outnumber males in
the troop 3 to 1 and are ranked by hierarchy
that is inherited and passed from mother to
infant. There is strong
sexual
dimorphism in this species with males
weighing up to 31 pounds and females
approximately 14 pounds. To keep warm these
monkeys are blanketed with both thick soft
course hairs on the outside and dense short
tufts of hair serving as an undercoat.
This species is widely known for their
intelligence. One noted cultural behavior is
that of food washing. This behavior was
first noted in a troop at Koshima island.
Imo, a female monkey, was observed to wash
her food in river water to first clean it
and then salt water (perhaps for flavor?).
This unique new behavior was then adopted by
other members of the troop. This case study
clearly proves that other species, both
primate and non, are capable of learning and
passing on behaviors, and therefore have
unique and complex cultures.
Probably the most infamous of Japanese
macaque behavior is their luxurious
bathing. In the winter months, monkeys
gather together to soak in hot springs.
Photo credit: Jigokudani Hot Spring, Japan
by Yosemite
Research has also found specific accents in
vocalizations that are used by different
troops. And last but not least my favorite
behavior, the making of snow balls. Snow
balls are often made and played with amongst
younger individuals in M. fuscata
troops.
Macaques have larger brains than other
monkey species. It is therefore no wonder
that Sir David Attenborough wrote the
“macaque is one of the most successful and
versatile of all primates. If you wanted to
pick a monkey that is bright, adaptable,
versatile, resilient, enterprising, tough
and capable of surviving in extreme
conditions and taking on all corners, the
macaque would win hands down.”
Although they are listed as Least Concern
on the IUCN red list,
Japanese macaques face serious threats from
habitat loss, poaching and use in biomedical
research.
Deforestation has led to loss of important
habitat for these monkeys which,
in turn,
has led to human wildlife conflict.
Japanese macaques have been known to raid
homes and farms which have led to poaching,
despite this being outlawed in Japan since
1947.
These monkeys are also used in biomedical
research. Most commonly they are used for
neurological studies and pharmaceutical
testing. In addition, Creative Animodel has
also described M. fuscata as being
highly used in tests of bio-behavioral
studies of attachment and parental behavior.
Take Action
If you’ve read this blog and familiarized
yourself with the Japanese macaque, it is
now your responsibility to share the news.
Try forwarding this blog and or talking to
at least 5 friends/family about what you
learned.
What does that mean?
Deciduous Forest: Forests that change seasonally. The
word deciduous means to fall off at
maturity. The opposite of deciduous is
evergreen.
Matrilineal Society:
Is based on a line of descent through the
female. Offspring are traced back to the
mother as opposed to a patrilineal society,
from which descent is traced to the male.
Old World
Monkeys: Primates that fall into the
superfamily Cercopithecoidea. These monkeys
are native to Africa and Asia as opposed to
New World Monkeys which occupy South
America.
Sexual Dimorphism:
Is the difference in physical form between
males and females of the same species. This
includes color, size and presence or absence
of body parts. Examples of sexual
dimorphism are: tusks in elephants, colors
of feathers in birds of paradise, and body
size and weight in primates.
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