It seems that the common image of the Japanese macaque is ‘Boss’. Actually, many people visiting here ask us ‘Which monkey is the boss?’

What image of ‘boss’ do you have?

Maybe, the boss has large body and acts big, and he always stay at a high place. He eats first, all babies are his children. He fights with younger one and leave the troop when he lose…etc.

These are not true. In fact, there is not so much difference about the body size among male monkeys. Rather than the boss acts big, other monkeys behave with modesty to the boss. It is true that sometimes the boss climbs and shakes a tree but he usually stays and relaxes in the shade and we can hardly find him. There is abundant food in the forest so monkeys do not need to fight each other to get food.

All males and females choose their mating partner. We have not seen a tough fight to get the status of the boss among males.

We find no superiorities of the boss like common images. We do not think that other young males want to become the boss someday in their future. The hierarchy in a troop is just a temporary thing and is not important for males who leave the troop before long.

Every monkey in a troop is ranked the hierarchy. Usually we call the first ranked monkey ‘boss’. He has leadership for fighting when enemies and Hanare-zaru come close to his troop. Also punishing monkeys is one of important roles for the high ranked male when the members have a skirmish in the troop. It is true that the high ranked male receive respect from all members of the troop.

We have been calling the first ranked male ‘Ryuoh’ with the kind of respect for generations. Recently, there is a movement to stop calling ‘boss’ among some persons concerned. But it has not become public, people still say ‘boss’. There are other terms meaning boss, such as leader, first ranked male or alpha male etc, but we want you to know the truth of monkeys’ ecology rather than the terms.