Japan wildlife boost

Japanese primate researchers have always had an advantage: the world’s most northerly species lives in their backyard. For 60 years researchers based at Kyoto University have studied their native Japanese macaques on the island of Koshima. The work was begun by Kinji Imanishi and distinguished students have kept Kyoto at the forefront of primate research. The university’s primate research centre has been a key international institute. The researchers carried out studies on the dominance system of the macaques, along with their matrilinear society, vocal communication and proto-culture, including the washing of sweet potatoes, an activity still carried out by monkeys today, several generations after the initial observation. In fact, the researchers now have records from eight generations of these macaques. Ten years after work began on the Japanese macaques, Kyoto researchers first went to Africa to study wild chimpanzees. The new Wildlife Research Centre (WRC) of Kyoto University aims to build on the Primate Research Institute to promote broader research and conservation aims. The centre plans to carry out basic research on endangered and threatened species of wild animals to promote their conservation in their natural habitat, to improve their health and welfare in captivity, and to encourage the fusion of scientific approaches to advance the understanding of human nature. Secondly, the centre aims to integrate different areas of science to create new disciplines applicable to field settings and to encourage international collaboration for the coexistence of humans and other living organisms. But, apart from supporting facilities for domestic field work on Japanese macaques on the islands of Koshima and Yakushima, the centre will continue to support and promote