Our primate ancestors evolved in the cold--not the tropics

[Judi Lynn]

4. Japan's snow monkeys de-stress in hot springs

Last edited Mon Aug 25, 2025, 01:49 AM - Edit history (1)

By Joshua Mellin, CNN
5 min read
Updated 6:32 AM EST, Mon December 9, 2019



CNN
—
The Japanese macaques in Jigokudani Monkey Park begin most days with a relaxing dip in their own private hot tub.

Located in Joshinetsu Kogen National Park in Japan’s Nagano prefecture, the primate-only onsen is world-famous as the preferred simian hot spring.

But life hasn’t always been so simple for the snow monkeys of Jigokudani (“The Valley of Hell,” named for its natural hot springs). They were initially forced from their habitat in the 1950s by the development of nearby ski resorts.

As a result, they moved into nearby towns and quickly found trouble, raiding fruit from local farmers’ orchards. The farmers petitioned the government and were granted the right to hunt the animals.

More:
https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/snow-monkeys-hot-springs-japan









Snow Monkeys Love Hot Baths Just Like Humans Do, and Now We Know Why

By Rachael Rettner published April 4, 2018

Japanese macaques, or "snow monkeys," have been spotted taking baths in man-made hot springs during winter for decades. Now, researchers have discovered exactly why the monkeys do this.

The results are not exactly Earth-shattering: The monkeys are cold.

But the researchers also found that indulging in a hot-spring bath may lower the monkeys' levels of biological stress.

"This indicates that, as in humans, the hot spring has a stress-reducing effect in snow monkeys," study lead author Rafaela Takeshita, of Kyoto University in Japan, said in a statement. "This unique habit of hot spring bathing by snow monkeys illustrates how behavioral flexibility can help counter cold-climate stress," Takeshita said. [Image Gallery: Sneezin' Snub-Nosed Monkeys]

The study was published Tuesday (April 3) in the journal Primates.

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) live the farthest north of any species of nonhuman primate in the world. They are especially adapted to living in the cold; they grow thicker and longer fur in the winter.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/62213-why-snow-monkeys-take-hot-baths.html