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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....

Bali monkeys are raiding people's homes for food after not receiving the normal amount of treats from tourists due to the coronavirus pandemic. Macaque monkeys have begun hanging on residents' roofs and waiting for the opportunity to strike as they have been missing out on the bananas and peanuts normally provided to them by tourists, The Associated Press reported. The Sangeh Monkey Forest sanctuary, located close to the villagers, is home to 600 monkeys who normally get plenty of food from the 6,000 visitors a month; however, pandemic travel restrictions have proven detrimental to Bali's tourism industry with the monkeys...

Tourism is down in the ancient city of Lopburi, and the local monkeys are going ape. Rival gangs of macaques brawl in the streets of Thailand. In one of the more unusual incidents being attributed to the new coronavirus outbreak, a turf war between dozens of street monkeys and temple monkeys broke out in Thailand's historic city of Lopburi on Thursday (March 12). According to city residents, the furry fracas likely resulted from a sharp dip in tourism to the 800-year-old city — and thus a dip in free food offerings to thousands of local monkeys."It’s the summer so usually we see...

Greedy killer monkeys were found to be catching and gobbling up large rats in Malaysia. Shocked scientists uncovered the rat-catching macaques on palm oil plantations – and say the hungry predators could be used as pest control. The southern pig-tailed macaques were typically thought to chow down on fruit. They would also hunt for meaty prey sometimes, but generally only small lizards and birds. Now scientists have confirmed that these monkeys are also regularly snatching and devouring large rats.

For the first time, a team of Chinese scientists made use of gene-editing techniques to make monkey brains more human-like. By the end, the monkeys, rhesus macaques, got smarter and had superior memories as compared to the unaltered monkeys. Researchers edited the human version of a gene known as ‘MCPH1’ into the macaques. The gene made the monkeys’ brain develop along a more human-like timeline

Making monkeys more smart and human-like, scientists have used gene-editing to insert human brain gene in a monkey. For the first time, a team of Chinese scientists made use of gene-editing techniques to make monkey brains more human-like. By the end, the monkeys, rhesus macaques, got smarter and had superior memories as compared to the unaltered monkeys. Researchers edited the human version of a gene known as ‘MCPH1’ into the macaques. The gene made the monkeys’ brain develop along a more human-like timeline. The gene-hacked monkeys showed better reaction times and improved short-term memories in comparison to their unaltered peers,...

Macaque with stolen goods I’m willing to trade Kylie McLaughlin/Getty ================================================================================================================================= Long-tailed macaques living near an Indonesian temple have figured out how to run a ransom racket on visiting tourists. The monkeys grab valuables, such as glasses, hats, cameras or, in one case, a wad of cash from the ticket booth, then wait for temple staff to offer them food before dropping their ill-gotten gains and dashing off with the tasty prize (see video below). Although this behaviour has been reported anecdotally at Uluwatu Temple on the island of Bali for years, it had never been studied scientifically in the...

The Ebola virus can spread through the air from pigs to macaques, a new study suggests. Transmission of the virus — which causes an often fatal hemorrhagic fever in people and primates — was thought to require direct contact with body fluids from an infected animal or person. But in the new study, published online November 15 in Scientific Reports, piglets infected with Ebola passed the virus to macaques housed in the same room even though the animals never touched. “The evidence that the virus got from a pig to a monkey through a respiratory route is good,” says Glenn...

A British woman who went to a Thai nature resort to conquer her fear of monkeys has been savaged by a pack of macaques. Dee Darwell, 56, lost consciousness after the monkeys surrounded her and sank their teeth into her arms and body. Many of the primates remained hanging from her limbs as she lay collapsed with blood spurting from a "deep, deep hole" in her arm. She was eventually rescued by Thai boatmen and was taken to Bangkok Phuket Hospital. The horrific attack happened on Monkey Island near to the popular holiday island of Phuket in southern Thailand. "I...

Wild monkeys attacked a senior government official who then fell from a balcony at his home and died Sunday, media reported. New Delhi Deputy Mayor S.S. Bajwa was rushed to a hospital after the attack by a gang of Rhesus macaques, but succumbed to head injuries sustained in his fall, the Press Trust of India news agency and The Times of India reported. Many government buildings, temples and residential neighborhoods in New Delhi are overrun by Rhesus macaques, which scare passers-by and occasionally bite or snatch food from unsuspecting visitors. Last year, the Delhi High Court reprimanded city authorities for...