5 Interesting Facts About Japanese Macaques

Japanese macaques keeping themselves warm in the snow

Today I want to write about a beautiful monkey called the Japanese macaque.

Here are five interesting facts about them:

1. These unique monkeys are about 60 cm (2 feet) tall, with long hair and a short stumpy tail.  Males are bigger than females.
2. They live in noisy troops of about 40, but if there is lots of food, they can gather in groups of up to 700.
3. Their long fur enables them to survive in very cold conditions.  They are very well known for resting in very hot springs of water to keep themselves warm.  Because they can live in the snow, they are also called snow monkeys.  They live in a very hierarchical society and lower ranked monkeys are not allowed into the springs, which is a bit mean.
4. Japanese macaques are not very fussy eaters and will eat almost anything, including leaves, fruit, berries, seeds, small animals and insects.  They are very smart and some will wash their food in water before eating it.
5. They are the most northerly of all primates, living on various Japanese islands.  There is also a small population that have been introduced to Texas.  They are very common and are in no danger of extinction.

I hope that you found these facts interesting and learned something new.

Are there any other interesting facts that you would like to share about Japanese macaques?