2022 Volume 38 Issue 1 Pages 15-
The distance that the Kurodani A group of Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) maintained from forest edge while foraging was surveyed in Ishikawa Prefecture from September to December 2019. The distance increased as the season progressed. The macaques ate mainly rice grains, persimmons, and herbs, regardless of the distance of the food from forest edge, implying that the seasonal change in distance was a response to changes in both the distribution of major foods and the dangers posed by humans. Generalized linear models did not detect any influence of sex and age class on the distance. However, compared to macaques in the other sex and age classes, adult females without accompanying infants tended to venture into open fields much more often than expected, whereas adult females with infants did so much less often than expected, implying that the presence of infants influenced macaque behavior. By clarifying how individual macaques recognize danger in the “landscape of fear” in farmland and villages, and how they subsequently respond, we can better understand the feeding strategy of this species and how to prevent the damage that they cause.
