Book 33, Question 122
Why do snow monkeys soak in hot springs?
Japanese macaques, often called snow monkeys, live in mountains with snowy winters.
In some places, they soak in natural hot springs to stay warm. The warm water keeps them cozy while snow falls around them. Young monkeys learn from older ones. Natural hot springs can be too hot for people, so watch these monkeys from a distance.
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Quick answers
Why do snow monkeys soak in hot springs?
Researchers always suspected the monkeys used the hot springs to stay warm in the winter, and a new study published in the journal Primates confirms this.
Source: National Geographic
More fun facts
- Due to hygiene concerns, the Jigokudani park decided to build the monkeys their very own hot spring, where the macaques now bathe regularly during the winter months.
- Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, are the most northerly species of non-human primates.
- Researchers believe that snow monkeys in Jigokudani maintain their body temperature by growing longer and thicker fur during winter.
- The team also found that the in the colder months, the macaques had lower levels of fecal glucocorticoids during weeks that they bathed, compared to weeks they did not.
- To see exactly what kind of benefit the macaques got from their baths, a group of researchers from Japan's Kyoto University tracked 12 females.
Sources: Smithsonian Magazine, National Geographic
Questions kids ask
When were snow monkeys first seen bathing in hot springs?
The group’s predilection for warm baths was first reported in the winter of 1963, when a juvenile female snow monkey was seen soaking in an outdoor hot spring that belonged to a hotel near Jigokudani.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine