Macaca fuscata
Silhouette: PhyloPic
In 3 days ~80% in a week >90%
The Japanese macaque (Macaca fuscata), also known as the snow monkey, is a terrestrial Old World monkey species that is native to Japan. Colloquially, this macaque is referred to as the "snow monkey", because some live in areas where snow covers the ground for months each year. No other non-human primate lives farther north, nor in a colder climate. It has brownish grey fur, a pinkish-red face, and a short tail. Two subspecies are known.
In Japan, the species is known as Nihonzaru (ニホンザル, a combination of Nihon 日本 "Japan" + saru 猿 "monkey") to distinguish it from other primates, but the Japanese macaque is very familiar in Japan—as it is the only native species of monkey in Japan—so when Japanese people simply say saru, they usually have the Japanese macaque in mind.
The Japanese macaque is sexually dimorphic. Males weigh on average 11.3 kg (25 lb), while females average 8.4 kg (19 lb). Macaques from colder areas tend to weigh more than ones from warmer areas. The average height for males is 57.0 cm (22.4 in), while the average female height is 52.3 cm (20.6 in). The weight of their brain is approximately 95 g (3.4 oz). Japanese macaques have short stumps... Wikipedia →
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Japan · 2025
© midnightc · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
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Japan · 2025
© todobem · iNaturalist · CC BY-NC 4.0
| # | Park | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikko National Park | 🇯🇵 Japan |
More parks will be added in future updates.
| # | City | Country | Daily sighting probability |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Osaka | 🇯🇵 Japan |
No species of the same family or order lives in Osaka, so these are its closest relatives here: other mammals.
Likely
About 50% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Macaque sighting in Osaka on a given day, based on 466 verified sightings from GBIF citizen-science data. It is the most-seen of the 8 mammals we can rate there. Over three days the chance rises to about 80%, and over a week to over 90%, if each day is a fresh chance.
February–March, June–August, October and December
In those months about 50% of wildlife watchers report a Japanese Macaque in Osaka on a given day, against about 40% in January, April–May, September and November, the lowest months.
Between 7 and 10 am
Across all the parks we cover, that three-hour window holds the most Japanese Macaque sightings with a recorded time, and about half of them come between 6 am and 6 pm: it is most active around dawn and dusk.
Only Osaka, in our data
Osaka is the only city on Wallace's Line with enough records to rate Japanese Macaque sightings: about 50% of wildlife watchers there report one on a given day.
GBIF citizen-science records
It is estimated from how often the Japanese Macaque is recorded against all the mammals logged in Osaka (466 verified sightings), calibrated against known sighting rates. Figures are rounded to the nearest 10% because citizen-science data supports honest approximations, not decimals, and months with records from fewer than five people show "—". How it works.
