An article on Japanese macaques

September 21, 2001

(You can see a mother-and-baby photo at this site)

ANIMAL TRACKER

Japanese macaque

By ROWAN HOOPER

* Japanese name: Nihon zaru

* Scientific name: Macaca fuscata fuscata

* Description: These monkeys … the only ones in Japan

… are distinctive because of their brown-white fur and

red faces (hair doesn't grow on the face). Males grow

up to 60 cm tall and weigh about 12 kg. Females are

slightly smaller, between 47-55 cm and 10 kg. They

live in groups of 20 to up to 150. Young males are

forced by the alpha male to leave the group when they

become adolescent.

* Where to find them: From Honshu to Kyushu, from

subtropical lowland to subalpine highland.

* Food: Fruit, berries, leaves, seeds, small animals,

insects, crop plants. In winter, when everything is

covered in snow, they eat the bark of trees.

* Special features: Macaques are one of the few

animals in the world that transmit cultural

information to other group members. Scientists

studying a macaque group first realized this when a

female macaque figured out how to wash sweet potatoes

before eating them, and taught the trick to other

monkeys; they also rinse wheat in water. Even more

amazingly, they use medicine. They eat takenigusa, a

bamboolike grass that is used in Chinese medicine, to

treat parasite problems. Some macaques also eat soil.

Why? Their diet can cause gastric upsets but clay

minerals in the soil help prevent diarrhea by

buffering the gut from plant chemicals. Clever

monkeys.

The Japan Times: Sept. 21, 2001

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