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Macaca mulatta

Basic information
Scientific name Macaca mulatta

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アカゲザル
Common names Rhesus monkey, Rhesus macaque
Higher taxon Cercopithecidae, Primates, Mammalia
Natural range Afganistan, northern and central India, northern and central Indochina, central and southern continental China, and Hainan Island.
Habitat Various forest. In Chiba Pref., mountainous area with evergreen broadleaved forest and farm field.
Invasion information
Range in Japan Southern Chiba Pref. Range in Japan
Origin China (according to DNA analysis)
Date Established in 1960s.
Route Deliberate: The Chiba population was established by escape from a private tourist facility.
Impact Competition, hybridization. Damage on agriculture. Carrying pathogen.
Native organism(s) affected: Native macaque Macaca fuscata, vegetation, crops.
Regulation in Japan Import, transport and keeping are prohibited in Japan by the Invasive Alien Species Act.
Introduced range in other countries USA, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Brazil, Rarotonga Is. (Cook Islands), etc.
Reference Notes
  • DECO (ed) (2006) Dictionary of Alien Species. Tokyo-Shoseki. (in Jpn)
  • JWRC (ed) (2008) A Photographic Guide to the Invasive Alien Species in Japan. Heibonsha. (in Jpn)
  • Ministry of the Environment, Japan. The Invasive Alien Species Act (Accessed on 2012-5-26) http://www.env.go.jp/en/nature/as.html
  • Ohdachi et al. (eds) (2009) The Wild Mammals of Japan. Shokado, Kyoto.
  • Wilson & Reeder (eds.) (2005) Mammal Species of the World. A Taxonomic and Geographic Reference (3rd ed), Johns Hopkins University Press, 2,142 pp. (http://www.press.jhu.edu).
  • Yamada et al. (eds) (2011) Invasive Alien Mammals in japan: Biology of Control Strategy and Conservation. Univ. Tokyo Press (in Jpn)
Macaca mulatta × Macaca fuscata is Invasive alien species (Invasive Species Act)
All the species of Macaca (except for M. cyclopis, M. fascicularis, M. mulatta, and M. fuscata) are designated as Uncategorized Alien Species by the Invasive Alien Species Act (import and keeping in Japan require 6 months investigation for risk assessment).