Macaques travel in groups and sleep together. The young need to be with their own kind to "learn to be monkeys", otherwise when they grow to big to live with human beings they will have none of the social skills needed to re-integrate with other monkeys in the wild or even in a zoo.
Darwin, the Ikea monkey is at the age where he will be starting to learn social behaviors from other members of his group. Being placed in a primate sanctuary at his young age will give Darwin the opportunity to be with other primates and to grow into a stable, socialized being.
However 'cute' Darwin is at this time, he will grow into a adult male wanting to challenge for dominance. His owners will likely be subject to aggressive attacks causing the owners to want to find him a new home.
Because Darwin won't be properly socialized he will be shunned by other primates of his kind and he will be relegated to living alone at the zoo or rescue sanctuary. He will unable to enter into any family group made up of his own kind. This would leave Darwin lonely and probably psychologically disturbed and very stressed by the boredom of a singular existence.
You can vote on-line to have him returned to his humans or to stay at the primate rescue facility where he is currently being held. It will be interesting to watch the outcome of the survey. The sum of people's opinions acquired in the 3rd party survey will have no affect in deciding Darwin's fate. There are strict laws in the province where Darwin is living and they forbid keeping primates as pets.
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Japanese macaque
Macaca fuscata
Mother macaque with infant
TAXONOMY
Suborder: Haplorrhini
Infraorder: Simiiformes
Superfamily: Cercopithecoidea
Family: Cercopithecidae
Subfamily: Cercopithecinae
Genus: Macaca
Species: M. fuscata
Subspecies: M. f. fuscata, M. f. yakui
Other names: Japanese macaque, Japanese monkey, Snow monkey; macaque japonais, macaque à face rouge (French); japansk makak (Swedish); macaca japonesa (Spanish); Nihon zaru (Japanese) (for vernacular names see Fooden & Aimi 2005:77); M. fuscata yakui: Yaku monkey; Yakushimazaru, Yakuzaru (Japanese).
Two subspecies of Japanese macaque have been described, Macaca fuscata fuscata and Macaca fuscata yakui. M. f. fuscata is the mainland subspecies of the Japanese macaque. M. f. yakui is restricted to the island of Yakushima at the southern limit of Macaca fuscata distribution and is distinguishable from M. fuscata due to differences in pelage and body size (Fooden & Aimi 2005).
MORPHOLOGY
The fur of the Japanese macaque can vary among shades of brown from grey or yellow brown to exclusively brown (Fooden & Aimi 2005). Japanese macaques have a pinkish face and posterior with a short stump of a tail (Rowe 1996). There is a degree of sexual dimorphism between male and female Japanese macaques with the males weighing somewhat more than the females and on average having a longer body length than the females.
The average body weight of the Japanese monkey is 11.3 kg (24.91 lb) (M) and 8.4 kg (18.52 lb) (F) (Fooden & Aimi 2005).
Japanese macaques are predominantly quadrupedal and can be considered semi-terrestrial. Females spend more time in trees than males and males spend more time on the ground than females.
Leaping is seen in the Japanese macaque, but suspension from supports is not common (Chatani 2003).
Japanese macaques are excellent swimmers and are reportedly able to swim distances of over half a kilometer (Mito 1980 cited in Fooden & Aimi 2005).
This macaque's fur is a unique adaptation to cold, as fur thickness increases as habitat temperature decreases and allows the monkey to cope with winter temperatures as low as -20° C (-4° F) (Hori et al. 1977).
RANGE CURRENT RANGE MAPS (IUCN REDLIST):
Macaca fuscata
The Japanese macaque is native to the islands of Japan.
Even though its range is restricted to the three southern main is lands of Japan, the species nevertheless represents the northernmost wild populations of non-human primates in the world.
The total population of Japanese macaques has been estimated to be 114,431 individuals and likely numbers around 100,000 individuals in its natural habitat (Hashiba 1989; Fooden & Aimi 2005).
The Japanese macaque has been studied in the wild longer than most primate species, having been observed in numerous habitats and locations throughout Japan for over 50 years (Yamagiwa & Hill 1998).
Due to variations in the latitude and altitude of the Japanese islands, the habitat of the Japanese macaque varies greatly between the extremes of its distribution.
As is expected in a variable range, there is a large spectrum of vegetation within the distribution of the Japanese macaque (Suzuki 1965).
ECOLOGY
Photo: Frans de Waal
The omnivorous Japanese macaque is not a picky eater and will eat a great variety of foods including over 213 species of plant (Koganezawa 1975).
Other main foods eaten include insects and soil (Koganezawa 1975). As expected, variable types of foods are available in different habitats and in some cases food availability is profoundly seasonal.
The average group size of the Japanese macaque is 41 individuals but they can range from 10 to as large as 161 (Fooden & Aimi 2005).
Photo: Alisha Eisert
Minor Enemies:
Japanese macaques are preyed upon by several species including feral dogs and Mountain Hawk Eagles (Spizaetus nipalensis) (Miyamoto 1976 cited in Fooden & Aimi 2005; Iida 1999).
In addition, raccoon dogs (Nyctereutes procyonoides) may be a predator of the Japanese macaques, especially infants (Iwamoto 1974).
Major Enemy - Humans:
Japanese macaques are also killed in Japan when their crop-raiding and interactions with humans become a problem. The annual kill surpassed 10,000 individuals annually in 1998 (Watanabe & Muroyama 2005).
This is significant because this annual kill represents around a tenth of the entire estimated population.
Content last modified: April 26, 2007
Written by Kurt Gron. Reviewed by Sarah Turner.
Cite this page as:
Gron KJ. 2007 April 26. Primate Factsheets: Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) Taxonomy, Morphology, & Ecology .
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Painting by Watanabe Kazan, 19th century
Source:
Primate Factsheets: Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) Taxonomy, Morphology, & EcologyLink: http://pin.primate.wisc.edu/factsheets/entry/japanese_macaque
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