Yakushima Macaque

In Japan, the species is known as Nihonzaru (ニホンザル, a combination of Nihon (日本) "Japan" + saru (猿) "monkey") to distinguish it from other primates

Compared with mainland Japanese macaques, which live from Honshu to Shikoku and Kyushu, Japan, these individuals are smaller, stockier, have black hands and feet, and have a thicker gray coat. Adults have darker fur than infants and juveniles. Adult males have a special feature called "momoware" (split peach), which parts their hair in the center from right to left.

Other peculiar behaviors of the macaque include playing with snowballs and taking hot spring baths together. Recent research has also revealed that Japanese macaques can acquire accents that are different from one another and from those of humans. Macaques communicate by making calls, which can have very diverse pitches in locations only a few hundred miles apart.

As highly opportunistic omnivores, Yakushima macaques consume fruits, leaves, seeds, insects, frogs, bark, and mushrooms (especially during the winter). Macaques play a role in the environment as seed dispersers and have an impact on the composition of forests. Although there have historically been sporadic raptors or feral dogs as their primary predators, raccoon dogs and weasels may currently pose the greatest threat to these young macaques.

Reproduction

• Mating season: Autumn to early winter.

• Gestation: ~170–180 days.

• Birth season: Spring to early summer.

• Offspring: Usually one infant.

• Female dominance: Females stay with their natal group; matrilineal hierarchies are strong.

• Lifespan: In the wild ~20–25 years; longer in captivity.

Yakushima macaques are very hierarchical and have intricate grooming networks. They live in social groups of twenty to thirty people. These macaques are quite talkative and communicate by cooing, screaming, and grunting. These macaques frequently show up boldly close to roadways and tourist destinations. Although macaques are not "friendly" by nature, they may approach human settlements in search of food if they become accustomed to them.

If they feel threatened, Yakushima macaques may bite. It is forbidden to feed them, and doing so may cause violence between humans and macaques.

Threats

• Habitat loss from forestry operations (historically).

• Crop raiding conflicts → persecution by farmers.

• Road accidents due to increasing tourism.

• Dependency on human food if fed by tourists.

Conservation Status

• IUCN Red List: Least Concern (LC)

• Locally protected but considered a conservation priority because:

  • small population (~5,000–7,000)

  • restricted range (one island)

Conservation Efforts

• Habitat protection.

• Anti-poaching enforcement.

• Rescue and rehabilitation centers.

• Awareness campaigns against illegal pet trade.

Yakushima macaque was that is indigenous to Yakushima Island, a subtropical mixed tropical island of Japan. Macaques occur from sea level to high mountain zones, adapting to various microclimates.

• Movement Pattern: Random

• Individual Type: Nomadic/Troop

• Population Trend: Stable

• Population: 2,000-3,850

• Locomotion: Terrestrial

• Habitat: Polar; Tundra; Taiga; Montane Grasslands and Shrublands; Temperate Coniferous Forests; Temperate Broadleaf and Mixed Forests; Temperate Deciduous Forests, Temperate Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Subtropical Coniferous Forests; Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Subtropical Grasslands, Savannas, and Shrublands; Stone Forest; Tropical Coniferous Forests; Tropical Moist Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Dry Broadleaf Forests; Tropical Grasslands; Tropical Savannas and Shrublands; Mediterranean Forests, Woodlands, and Scrub; Flooded Grasslands and Savannas; Swamp; Bayous/Billabongs; Riparian; Wetland; Mangrove Forest; Cold Bamboo Forests; Tropical Bamboo Forests; Air-breathing Coral Reefs; Mountain; Warm River; Cold River; Lukewarm River; Subterranean River; Pond; Ghost Town.

• Earth: 

  • Native (Resident): Japan (Yakushima)

In Rapunzel's universe, at first, Yakushima macaques are passive and tame and can be given any type of berry. (Any sweet berries are recommended.) Do not run up to its face.

In our universe, Yakushima macaques cannot and ought not to be kept as pets. These factors include the fact that they are prohibited by Japanese animal protection regulations, the need for intricate social systems, the potential for aggression and stress in captivity, the high risk of two-way disease transmission (such as herpes B), and serious ethical and welfare problems.

1900s-present

In the past in Yakushima, when food supplies for macaques became short, the monkeys would encroach on human habitation and damage crops; 400–500 Yakushima macaques were caught and exterminated every year due to the damage done to the Ponkan and Tankan orange crops, for which Yakushima is especially noted. The reason may be because the monkeys' broadleaf tree habitat declined due to logging and replacement of the broadleaves with conifers. Nowadays, Yakushima residents aim to coexist by protecting their crops with electric fences, rather than exterminating the macaques.

2600s

In The Recollections of Queen Arianna (TROQA) events, the Japanese and Yakushima macaques survived mass extinction, and 600 Yakushima macaques were caught and exterminated every year due to the damage done to attacking Maoris, Hawaiians, Koreans, and others in Japanese-settled Oceania countries.

• Coming soon

• Coming soon

• English: Yakushima Macaque

• Nihongo: ヤクシマザル (Yakushimazaru)

• Maori: Makimaki Iaku-hima

• The first-ever drawing a primate in this century.

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yakushima_macaque

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monkeys_in_Japanese_culture

• https://species.wikimedia.org/wiki/Macaca_fuscata_yakui

• https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q11344981

• https://www.catalogueoflife.org/data/taxon/5JGWM

• https://www.gbif.org/species/4267140

• https://xeno-canto.org/species/Macaca-fuscata

• https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/147701-Macaca-fuscata-yakui

• https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/12565/17985253

• https://www.deviantart.com/ognimdo2002/art/Yakushima-Macaque-980511070