JIGOKUDANI MONKEY PARK 36° 43’ 58.1” N 138° 27’ 45.7” E
Through trial and error, it was discovered that the monkeys prefer raw barley and soy- beans up to three times per day, with apples during the green season, a feeding regimen that continues to this day. Despite their food supply being supplemented to keep them in the protected area, the monkeys remain wild and still need to fend for themselves. They continue to learn their social structures and how to find food to sustain themselves. The park officially opened in 1964 and is most popular throughout the winter seasons, where there’s a greater level of monkey activity. The park is now an important place for scientific observation and study but it remains, first and foremost, a place of conservation located within the natural territory of the troop.
-Conservation-
conservation is more important than ever . There are currently various factors that are challenging the safety and protection of the snow monkeys. Climate change is bringing rising temperatures, which is affecting their natural habitat. Altered precipitation and snowfall patterns are affecting their ability to find food and regulate body temperatures during the winter months. There continues to be habitat loss and fragmentation due to human activities. As natural forests are cleared for development or converted into farmland, the available habitat for these primates becomes increasingly limited, forcing them into closer proximity to human settlements. This leads to human-wildlife conflict such as crop raiding, property damage, and even incidents of aggression between monkeys and humans. Such conflicts lead to negative perceptions of the monkeys and can result in retaliatory measures against them, which brings us full circle to the original conception of the park. Then there’s the impact of tourism, which ironically, as photographers, we are a part of. While tourism can provide economic benefits and awareness to conservational matters, it can also have negative impacts on the animals and their habitat.Increased human presence, noise pollution, littering, and feeding of the monkeys by tourists can disrupt their natural behaviours and social dynamics. Plus, overcrowding at popular tourist sites can put pressure on the local environment and infrastructure. Disease transmission between monkeys, in addition to those transmitted by humans and domestic animals, is also a potential issue. With increasing human encroachment into their habitat, there’s a greater risk of exposure to pathogens that could potentially decimate populations or cause outbreaks of illness among the monkeys. The speed at which this could spread, and the manageability of such a spread, is potentially unfathomable.
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MOTHER VOLUME THREE
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