Monkey 'queen' led a violent coup to become her troop's first female leader. Now her reign is in jeopardy.

https://www.livescience.com ^ | Jan 21, 2022 | By Brandon Specktor

[Red Badger]

The young female fought her own mother and 4 top-ranking males to seize control of her troop.

In southern Japan, a young female macaque has upended societal norms by seizing control of her 677-member troop through a violent primate coup. Now, her hard-won empire could come crumbling down around her due to one unstoppable force: mating season.

Meet Yakei, a 9-year-old female living in a Japanese macaque reserve called the Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden, where she has spent the last year reigning as the first female troop leader in the park's 70-year history.

A New York Times article published Jan. 21 chronicles the monkey matriarch's incredible rise to power: After assaulting her own mother and assuming the role of top female in the troop, Yakei embarked on a violent vendetta against her troop's four highest-ranking males, finally assuming the troop's coveted alpha position after beating up Nanchu — an elderly, 31-year-old male who had ruled the troop for five years.

Hostile takeovers by aggressive females are exceptionally rare in Japanese macaque society, with only a handful of recorded cases preceding Yakei's coup, Yu Kaigaishi, a research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, told The New York Times.

Japanese macaques (Macaca fuscata) — also known as snow monkeys for their habit of basking in hot springs when the weather gets snowy — live in strictly hierarchical societies, Kaigaishi explained; higher-ranking monkeys get greater access to food and mates. A male's rank is usually determined by how much time he has spent in a particular troop (males tend to leave the troop they were born into after reaching puberty), while female macaques inherit the rank just below their mother's. Sometimes, macaques can violently seize higher ranks.

[BipolarBob]

I see nothing about Nancy Pelosi in this article.

[Salamander]

[cweese]

"I see nothing about Nancy Pelosi in this article."

Or Big Mike.

[SlipperySlope99]

Sounds like an insurrection.

[KarlInOhio]

Sounds like a Kurasawa version of Lancelot Link Secret Chimp.

The only real question is whether Putin will use this as an excuse to become king macaque.

[algore]

Her Msjesty is nearly at a platinum jubilee,

She is not the monkey

Hopefully all the lenr string guys abandon the pd for pt once they realize they get better reactions

[SunkenCiv]

• Musical Interlude topic for January 2022 [starts with some Spike Jones!]

[Magnum44]

[No name given]

Anybody else reminded of Game of thrones or the lion king?

[toast]

Anybody else reminded of Game of thrones or the lion king?

More like Kill Bill vol 1.

[Vigilanteman]

Snow monkeys are fascinating. My brother farms in the Nagano area and we've observed their behavior many times. The first time was when our middle daughter was about four years and was happily munching an apple, another famous local product.

A monkey was approaching her rather aggressively and I asked her to give up the apple. She wouldn't and I finally had to take it by force and throw it in a completely different direction. She wailed, but I probably saved our little girl from serious injury, as the simian veered off in the apple's direction just in the nick of time, She hates monkeys with a purple passion to this day.

[dfwgator]

That was a great scene.

[dfwgator]

Snow monkeys are fascinating.

Nolan Ryan sure thinks so.

[dynachrome]

Hunter biden was after her?

[FoxInSocks]

George Allen could not be reached for comment.

[Ken H]

Kamala is taking notes.

[mcshot]

Will try again later.

[farming pharmer]

A monkey was approaching her rather aggressively and I asked her to give up the apple. She wouldn't and I finally had to take it by force and throw it in a completely different direction. She wailed, but I probably saved our little girl from serious injury, as the simian veered off in the apple's direction just in the nick of time, She hates monkeys with a purple passion to this day.

Shooting it wasn't an option?

[Grimmy]

Is this about Killary or Kamalatoe?