The sight of snow monkeys enjoying a long hot soak is sure to raise a smile
Mike Dilger’s WILDLIFE SPECTACLES The broadcaster, naturalist and tour guide shares the most breathtaking seasonal events in the world
BATHING JAPANESE MACAQUES
Japanese macaques are the celebrity primates of the Far East, rivalling movie stars with their attention-grabbing capabilities. Troops of ‘snow monkeys’ are often papped in frozen locations but can be spotted across an array of habitats on three of Japan’s four main islands, ranging from the subtropical forests of the southern islands to the subarctic mountains of Honshu in the north.
Instantly recognisable, the country’s only non-human primate has a striking pinkish-red face and rump and an immensely thick pelage, varying in colour from brown to grey. The males are often around 25 per cent heavier than the females, with those inhabiting colder areas tending to be heftier than their cousins in warmer climes.
Historically, Japanese macaques were imperiled by deforestation and hunting, but these threats have declined since World War II. Nowadays, the replacement of natural forests with plantations is the most serious issue facing the endemic primate. As humans increasingly encroach on their domain, the macaques have become labelled as a nuisance in some areas, with raiding farms for fruit the number one complaint on their rap sheet. Fortunately, more liberal attitudes exist in a number of places, such as the Jigokudani Monkey Park, near the city of Nagano on the island of Honshu.
Located in the Valley of Hell – named for its history of volcanic activity – the park is blanketed with snow throughout winter and hosts a troop of 150 to 160 monkeys that bathe in the numerous thermal springs. The behaviour is a relatively recent phenomenon, first observed in the winter of 1963, when a young female was seen in a spring belonging to a local hotel, attracted to food left out by park rangers. Other monkeys soon followed suit, leading the hotel to build another spring for the macaques’ exclusive use. By 2003, a third of all the females were bathing regularly during the coldest months.
Japanese macaques live in matrilineal societies, in which females stay in their natal groups for life while males move out when sexually mature, and dominance hierarchies exist both within and between the different matrilines in each troop. Researchers from Kyoto University fo
