Abstract
Woody vegetation and three-dimensional architectures are useful for rearing Japanese macaques from the viewpoint of environmental enrichment because they are semi-terrestrial mammals in their natural habitats. Bark-eating behavior of 56 Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) was investigated after their introduction into a semi-natural enclosure, of total area of 9,000 m2. Estimation of tree damage and preservation of woody vegetation in the enclosure were the twin objectives of this study. Bark-eating was confirmed as feeding signs on every tree in each quadrate. In total, macaques have bitten the bark of 85 trees from six species out of 504 trees from 14 species confirmed in quadrates. Cleyera japonica, Lyonia ovalifolia, Photinia glabra had greater bark-eating areas than Eurya japonica in averages compared to their availabilities. Around the three-dimensional frames, all tree species fed upon showed increased damage to their bark areas. Thus we infer that particular tree species growing within and around the artificial frames need to be protected from bark-eating by the macaques. Furthermore, to prevent diversity reduction in enclosure vegetation, natural regeneration of trees need to be encouraged.
