The Japanese Macaque

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The animal I have chosen to study is the Japanese macaque, more commonly known as the Japanese snow monkey. Sir David Attenborough recently described the macaque as “one of the most successful and versatile of all primates”, commending its capacity to be “versatile, resilient, enterprising, tough and capable of surviving in extreme conditions”. This essay will continue by examining the Japanese macaque in a number of ways. Firstly, I will describe the physical characteristics of the animal, paying particular attention to the way in which their appearance has adapted to enable them to dominate in their habitat. Secondly, I will discuss the environment in which the macaques live in and the unique capabilities they maximise to develop a strategy ensuring longevity of the breed. Finally, I will consider the various competitors to survival that exist in the macaque’s environment.

According to Gron (2007) the fur of the macaque is brown in colour but varies in shade from a light grey or yellow brown to completely brown. They are most commonly recognised for their pinkish red face. The macaques are predominantly quadrupedal, meaning they use all four limbs to travel across land. The males spend the majority of their time on the ground while the female takes shelter in the trees. Conservation International (2014) describes a degree of sexual dimorphism between males and females, the male measures between 537-607mm weighing between 11.0-18.0kg. The female is shorter measuring between 472-601mm and also lighter weighing 8.3-18.0kg. An image of a macaque is included in appendix 1.

The abbreviation of the Japanese macaque to Japanese snow monkey is indicative of the geographical location of the animal. The macaque lives in the subtropical...

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...e_macaque/behav [Accessed: 12 Feb 2014].

Hanya, G. 2004. Diet of a Japanese macaque troop in the coniferous forest of Yakushima. International Journal of Primatology, 25 (1), pp. 55--71.

Hays, J. 2014. SNOW MONKEYS (JAPANESE MACAQUE) | Facts and Details. [online] Available at: http://factsanddetails.com/japan/cat26/sub164/item887.html#chapter-3 [Accessed: 12 Feb 2014].

International, C. 2014. Japanese Macaque (Snow Monkey) - Conservation International. [online] Available at: http://www.conservation.org/learn/biodiversity/species/profiles/more_primates/tree/Pages/japanese_macaque.aspx [Accessed: 12 Feb 2014].

Watanabe, K. and Muroyama, Y. 2005. Recent expansion of the range of Japanese macaques, and associated management problems. In: Paterson, J. and Wallis, J. eds. 2005. . Commensalism and conflict: the human-primate interface. Norman (OK): Am Soc Primatol.

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