FUKUYAMA -- Japanese macaques at a natural zoo on an island in western Japan's Kagawa Prefecture have been observed hugging each other, to the surprise of a Japanese researcher.

The monkeys were observed embracing by Shintaro Ishizuka, a lecturer of animal ecology at Fukuyama University. A study of the animals' group life began in 2017, and in 2021 they started hugging each other, he said. While there have been several confirmed cases of wild Japanese macaques hugging, it was the first time for the practice to be observed among a group of fed monkeys.

Ishizuka was investigating a group of Japanese macaques living at Choshikei Monkey Park on the island of Shodoshima, and saw monkeys hugging in May 2021. Over the next three months or so, he monitored 14 female monkeys and three males in their adulthood, which he was able to track within a group of about 70, for a total of 285 hours, and observed five females hugging a total of 39 times.

It is said that the culture of animals such as monkeys spreads from young individuals to the entire group, and in this case, four of the five macaques were young (between the ages of 5 and 10). After hugging, one monkey would often begin grooming the other, and it is said the hugs could be a way to confirm each other's intentions.

A paper on the observations was published online in the international science journal acta ethologica in December 2024.

Ishizuka commented, "When they suddenly started hugging each other, I was surprised, and excited. The results of this observation may be the seedlings of Shodoshima culture," he said.

(Japanese original by Shinji Kanto, Fukuyama Bureau)