📷 Yosemite · CC BY-SA 3.0
📷 Abenteuer affenberg
📷 Ashley98lee
IUCN: Least Concern
Japanese Macaque
Macaca fuscata
KingdomAnimalia›PhylumChordata›ClassMammalia›OrderPrimates›FamilyCercopithecidae›GenusMacaca
About
No other non-human primate lives farther north than the Japanese macaque, whose troops weather winters with several meters of snow. Its round face and short tail, wrapped in a thick winter coat, earned it the nickname snow monkey.
At Nagano’s hot springs, generations of macaques have learned to lounge chest-deep in steaming water while snow falls around them, with high-ranking females claiming the best pools. Troops pass such traditions down the generations — one of the clearest animal examples of culture.
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Forests from warm lowland woods to snowy mountains; famously bathes in hot springs
🍃Diet Fruit, seeds, leaves, bark, insects, and occasional shellfish
📏Size & Weight Body 47–60 cm with a stubby tail
•Weight 10–18 kg (males larger)
⏳Lifespan 22–27 years wild; over 30 in care
🗺Range Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, Japan
MammalPrimate
Key Facts
⛰Habitat Forests from warm lowland woods to snowy mountains; famously bathes in hot springs
🍃Diet Fruit, seeds, leaves, bark, insects, and occasional shellfish
📏Size & Weight Body 47–60 cm with a stubby tail
•Weight 10–18 kg (males larger)
⏳Lifespan 22–27 years wild; over 30 in care
🗺Range Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, Japan
Photo Credits
#1Yosemite · CC BY-SA 3.0
#2Abenteuer affenberg · CC0
#3Ashley98lee · CC BY 4.0
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