Abstract
Special seminars on the “Present Situation of Japanese Macaques” were held four times between 1990-1993 and were aimed at making clear the situation of wild populations of Japanese macaques and establishing definite proposals for future management. The discussion in these seminars was summarized. In nearly half of the prefectures in Japan surveys of wild Japanese macaques were being conducted in some way. Recently, in most areas, macaques started to appear near cultivated fields and may be changing their behavior towards human beings, because they had usually fled in former days. It was reported that: some populations of Japanese macaques shifted themselves from the deep interior of mountains to be close to villages; the range of the groups became larger when they moved to fields to raid crops; the number of laborers decreased rapidly in the past two decades and their age became higher in Japanese agricultural villages which may be the principal factor allowing monkeys come closer to the field; hunting prohibited since 1947 may have affected the monkeys behavioral changes; the habitat disturbance (especially large-scaled plantation of coniferous trees in the mountain) might have induced the shift of monkey populations and so on. In Japan the organization of and/or persons monitoring the wildlife on a daily basis are scarcely available and the need for such organization or systems to make it realized was strengthened. Some other necessities are also mentioned.
