Can only male monkeys be king? She broke history and reached the pinnacle of her monkey life

In July 2021, a special inauguration ceremony was held at the Takasakiyama Natural Zoo in Japan: the 9-year-old young female monkey Yakei became the alpha of the monkey group.

This is the first female alpha monkey in the history of Japanese macaques. Yakei's ascension to the throne is not only due to the luck of the right time and place, but also her courage to overcome all obstacles.

She became the first Japanese macaque "Wu Zetian" in recorded history｜Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden

To become an upper-class monkey? First, be born into a good family

This doesn't happen in most Japanese macaque populations.

There are different levels of hierarchy in a monkey group. We often think that the "monkey king" has the right to decide the affairs of the monkey group; in fact, which direction the monkey group moves to and what to eat is often a tacit agreement reached naturally by most individuals, and there is no monkey leading the group. The so-called hierarchy is actually the order in which resources are obtained - everything is based on hierarchy, so as to avoid fighting for priority and wasting energy. All aspects of monkey life must be ranked according to hierarchy. High-ranking monkeys usually have priority in enjoying high-quality food and exclusive mating opportunities (low-ranking monkeys also have crooked ways to fight for mating rights, but that is another story).

The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata) is the northernmost non-human primate | Yosemite / Wikimedia Commons

The hierarchy of males and females is determined differently. Japanese macaques live in a matriarchal society, with females spending their entire lives in a group, while males migrate and change groups many times after reaching adulthood. Therefore, the social relationships of females are closely related to blood ties, and the hierarchy rules are strict and completely determined by birth, with nothing to do with ability or physique. In simple terms, the hierarchy of females is "the last child takes precedence" - daughters are favored by their mothers, and the youngest daughter is the most favored .

For example, there are high-ranking monkey mother D and low-ranking monkey mother S in the monkey group. Monkey mother D has the eldest daughter D1 and the youngest daughter D2. The eldest daughter D1 has a daughter D1-1. Then their ranking is D>D2>D1>D1-1; and monkey mother S and all her daughters and granddaughters are lower in rank than any female in D's family.

There is no patriarchal rule in the male hierarchy, and high-ranking male monkeys are usually old members of the group. However, seniority is only a result, and the fundamental reason may still be the difference in physical condition and fighting ability - low-ranking males who cannot fight often migrate out of the group, and naturally cannot accumulate seniority.

Although the ranking rules for males and females are different, due to the difference in fighting power between males and females, in all Japanese macaque groups, the alpha is male . Moreover, all monkeys in the group can be arranged in a row according to their rank, and there will not be a relationship of three monkeys restraining each other like rock-paper-scissors. This rank order is stable in the short term and rarely reversed.

Grooming is an important way for monkeys to maintain social relationships｜Noneotuho / Wikimedia Commons

Or, go to Mount Takasaki?

However, the monkey group on Mount Takasaki where Yakei is a member is an exception.

Mount Takasaki is located in Oita City, Kyushu, Japan. The Japanese macaques on the mountain have lived here for many years. In 1952, in order to prevent the monkeys from robbing nearby farmers and attract tourists to see the monkeys, people here began to try artificial feeding. After 4 months, the monkeys really got used to gathering at the foot of the mountain from time to time to have a good meal.

The first person to feed the monkeys was Oita Mayor Ueda Yasushi. He used his pocket money to buy apples and blew conch shells, hoping to attract the monkeys to a fixed area; later the food was replaced with sweet potatoes provided by monks from a nearby temple｜takasakiyama.jp

Later, this area became the Takasakiyama Natural Zoo . The monkeys came and went freely, but feeding them made them fearless and could be carefully observed. Moreover, with artificial nutrition, the monkey group grew rapidly , soon reaching 1,500 and split into four groups, ABCD. It was at this time that the researchers began to realize that there was something wrong with this group of monkeys.

The hierarchy in a monkey group can be tested with a simple "peanut test": throw a delicious food such as peanuts near two monkeys and see which monkey takes the food first to know who has a higher status. However, when scientists tested the monkey group in Takasaki Mountain, they found that sometimes the two monkeys would not give in, sometimes the results of multiple consecutive tests were inconsistent, and sometimes there was even a triangle relationship where three monkeys were mutually restrained... Even the very clear "last child takes precedence" rule in the feeding group no longer applies here . Scientists speculate that this may be because the monkey group here is too large and the monkeys can't remember who is who, let alone who has a higher status.

Thanks to artificial feeding, the monkey population in Takasakiyama has grown rapidly｜jldb.bunka.go.jp

In 2021, Yakei's group has 677 individuals, which is 10 times the number of monkeys in the natural state. In troubled times , heroes emerge, and it was in such a mountain called Takasaki that Yakei embarked on the road of upgrading.

The female alpha's road to fighting monsters

In early 2021, 9-year-old Yakei started dating McClane, the second oldest monkey in the group. In a group of monkeys, if you have a close relationship with a high-ranking monkey, you can get support from the high-ranking monkeys when competing for resources, thus climbing to a higher status. McClane's presence may have given Yakei a lot of confidence.

On March 15, 2021, Yakei attacked her mother first. After the fight, she replaced her mother as the leader of the group. However, she did not intend to stop there, but became more arrogant and moved with her tail up like a high-ranking male. In April, the staff found that all males ranked after the seventh dared not stand in Yakei's way; by May, her rank had surpassed the fourth-ranked male.

A female Japanese macaque and her cub | Rocktendo & Adam Gman / Wikimedia Commons

Yakei, who had been fighting all the way, encountered his second boss, the third-ranked male Goemon. Goemon did not intend to retreat without a fight like the other male monkeys, and still looked down on the aggressive Yakei. However, Yakei seized a flaw in him and attacked him from behind, and he finally fled.

At this time, Yakei's opponent is McClane, the second-ranked "ex-boyfriend". They are not so close after the breeding season in February and March. McClane, the second brother of the monkey group, who was full of vigor and vitality at the beginning, now sees his former "lover" winning all the battles and gaining prestige everywhere. He is also full of fear of Yakei and surrenders without a fight. I wonder if he has a trace of regret in his heart as he runs away from Yakei and gives up his position as the beta of the monkey group.

Yakei｜Mainichi/Nao Ishii

Reaching the peak of monkey life

By June, Yakei was below one monkey and above 600. At this point, the staff had realized that something was unusual - after all, even in Takasaki Mountain, no female monkey had ever been seen to become the alpha monkey.

At that time, Nanchu had been the alpha monkey in Yakei's group for five years. He was a 31-year-old male, which was considered a long-term adult for Japanese macaques. Yakei, 9, was in his prime. Even though there was a difference in physical strength between males and females, Yakei had a huge age advantage. On June 26, when the elderly Nanchu tried to support a young monkey attacked by Yakei, he was caught by the young and strong Yakei and attacked fiercely. After that, Nanchu gave in to Yakei.

Eventually, the staff used the peanut test to confirm the relationship between the two monkeys: in the summer of 2021, Yakei became the alpha female monkey, which had never been recorded before.

On July 30, the zoo also held a special ceremony for Alpha's inauguration, but the style of the painting...｜Youtube: @高崎山自然動物園

Yakei’s alpha status lasted two years.

During the 2023 breeding season, she bonded with a male macaque named Goro, and the dominance eventually shifted between the two, with Goro becoming the new alpha of the troop. Yakei gave birth to a female in June 2023 and is now focusing on raising her cub.

In 2024, Yakei was expected to regain the position of Alpha, but unfortunately she lost in the end. But she has made history and broken people's inherent imagination of monkeys. She is still the unprecedented "Wu Zetian among monkeys" .

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