The history of man-monkey relationships is considered in terms of habitat destruction and hunting pressure by humans from the early Jomon period to the present. It seems that Japanese monkeys, Macaca fuscata, were not a very conspicuous species in the Jomon period when humans lived by subsistence hunting and gathering without agriculture. Humans have continued to alter their forest environment, changing the habitat most suitable for arboreal monkeys to sparsely foliated bushes and grasslands through burning, cultivation and daily exploitation for fuelwood, etc. Japanese raised no domestic animals for meat, fundamentally depending on wild animals for protein. As the human population increased, the forests were devastated widely and monkey populations became obliged to depend on steep rocky cliffs in the deep mountains for protection. This condition suddenly changed after the Fuel-Revolution, which occurred in 1960 to 1970. The managed forests were abandoned and the natural flora recovered. Wolves, Canis lupus, the predator of monkeys, became extinct in the early 20th Century. Accordingly, the distribution of wild mammals, including monkeys, has rapidly expanded with an increase in population size. As a result crop-raiding has increased drastically as well as their removal. Comprehensive management is needed.
