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

By Rachael Rettner, Senior Writer | April 4, 2018 07:17am ET

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]

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Sex between snow monkeys and sika deer may be 'new behavioural tradition'

Following a report of monkey-deer interactions earlier this year, researchers have now recorded the behaviour in another group of monkeys

Nicola Davis

Friday 15 December 2017 14.20 GMTLast modified on Friday 15 December 2017 22.01 GMT

Sexual interactions between snow monkeys and sika deer could be a new behavioural tradition within a group of monkeys observed in Japan, researchers have suggested.

While the first report of a male Japanese macaque, or snow monkey, and female sika deer taking to each other was revealed earlier this year, scientists say they are now confident the behaviour is sexual after scrutinising adolescent females suggestively interacting with stags at Minoo in Japan.

“The monkey-deer sexual interactions reported in our paper may reflect the early stage development of a new behavioural tradition at Minoo,” said Dr Noëlle Gunst-Leca, co-author of the study from the University of Lethbridge in Canada.

While sexual interactions between closely related species have been seen for all manner of animals, from various species of fish to species of baboon, such liaisons are rare, with the sexual assault of king penguins by Antarctic fur seals the only other known example between distant species.

But earlier this year, a study revealed a male Japanese macaque had been filmed mounting a female Sika deer at Yakushima island in southern Japan. Gunst-Leca said it wasn’t clear quite what was going on.

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