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[Joe Garden <joegarden AT yahoo.com>]

http://www.csmonitor.com/Science/2010/0730/Monkeys-hate-flying-squirrels-report-monkey-annoyance-experts



Monkeys hate flying squirrels, report monkey-annoyance experts
Japanese macaques will completely flip out when presented with flying  
squirrels, a new study in monkey-antagonism has found. The research  could 
pave 
the way for advanced methods of enraging monkeys.

 
By Adam Hadhazy, LiveScience Staff Writer /             July 30, 2010 
Researchers have observed small monkeys called Japanese macaques going 
bananas 
at the sight of a flying squirrel. 



This riled-up response is probably just a false alarm, with the monkeys 
mistaking the squirrel  for a predatory bird. On the other hand, male 
macaques – 
some of whom  give chase and even attack a harmless rodent – might be trying 
to  
impress females in their troop. 

Although this tough-guy motive  was not proved in a new study, "it is 
possible 
that adult or sub-adult  male monkeys may be 'showing off'their fitness" as 
potential  mates, said Kenji Onishi, an assistant professor of behavioral 
sciences  at Osaka University and lead author of the paper being published in 
the  current issue of the journal Primate Research. 



Biologists and  psychologists have long studied macaques' complex social 
interactions  for insights into human evolution and behavior. 

However, much  remains unknown about how macaques get along (or not) with 
other  
creatures. Better documentation of such encounters could reveal more  about 
macaque societies as well as that of our shared primate  forbearers. 

"Human evolution occurred alongside primate evolution from a common mammalian 
ancestor,"  Onishi told LiveScience. "Therefore, it is important to learn the 
 
evolution of primates in understanding the previous steps in human  
evolution." 



Intruder alert! 
When Japanese giant  flying squirrels glided over to a tree in the monkeys' 
vicinity, adults  and adolescent macaques started hollering at it 
threateningly, 
the  researchers report. Young macaques screamed and mothers scooped up their 
 
infants, while adults and high-ranking males in particular went and  
physically 
harassed the offending squirrel. 

Onishi said other  researchers have observed macaques responding in a 
similarly 
aggressive  manner to birds that prey on the monkeys, such as the golden 
eagle 
and  mountain hawk eagle. These raptors glide and swoop much like the flying  
squirrels. 

Upon closer inspection up in a tree or on the ground,  however, the squirrel 
is 
clearly no bird of prey. Yet the animal still  raises the hackles of the 
macaques. 

Other woodland creatures,  including hares, deer and wild boars, barely 
elicit a 
response from  macaque groups, said Onishi, though dogs and people will 
sometimes  instigate alarm calls and a fleeing from the immediate area. 



Meet the macaques 
After humans, macaques are the most geographically dispersed primate on  the 
planet, living across southern Asia and into North Africa. The rhesus macaque 
is 
also perhaps the most familiar monkey to Westerners, common both in zoos and 
as 
lab animals. 

The Japanese macaques in the study are well-known for a group of them that 
hang 
out every  winter in the Jacuzzi-like Jigokudani hot springs when it gets too 
cold  and snowy outside (no wonder the species is also nicknamed "snow  
monkey"). 

The adult male Japanese macaques range in size from  about 20 to 24 inches 
(50 
to 60 centimeters) tall and females about 19  to 22 inches (4.8 to 5.5 
centimeters). 

This gives the monkeys a  clear size advantage over their flying squirrel 
antagonists, if one does  not count the squirrels' tails. The squirrels 
documented in the study  were typical for their kind, about 12 to 15 inches 
(30 
to 40 cm) long  and with a bushy tail of about equal length. 



Show of (non)force? 
When chasing macaques did succeed in getting close to these infringing  
squirrels, the monkeys tended to look on "in fear and hesitated to  attack," 
Onishi said. 

In rare instances when the bolder monkeys  did physically assault their 
quarry, 
Onishi said the squirrels were  neither harmed nor eaten and eventually 
escaped. 

Though clearly  not interested in eating each other, the diets of the animals 
do 
cross  when it comes to fruits, nuts and other delectables. But a territorial 
 
defense of food resources is not the motive of these militant monkeys, as 
there 
are "low levels of food competition between macaques and the squirrels," 
Onishi 
noted 

It is more likely that a simple misunderstanding about the squirrels' nature 
underpins the melee. 

Mewa Singh, a professor of psychology at the University of Mysore in  India 
who 
has studied macaques, pointed out that the flying squirrels  are generally 
nocturnal, whereas the monkeys are active during the day. 

"The interactions between monkeys and a flying squirrel, therefore, are  not 
expected to be frequent and the monkeys may not "know" whether the  squirrel 
is 
a predator or not," said Singh, who was not involved in the  study. 



All in the game 
Nevertheless, the fact  that adult males had a greater tendency to be the 
ones 
beleaguering the  flying squirrels led Onishi and his co-authors to speculate 
that a  measure of flaunting biological fitness to the females is in play. 

At the same time, a generic "battle stations!" response to raptor-like  
behaviors from any sort of animal, whether featured like a bird or not,  
might 
prime the macaques for when real danger glides into town. 

This hair-trigger might increase the possibility that macaques in the  troop 
"survive when true predatory threats emerge," Onishi said.
>From josh.greenman AT gmail.com  Thu Aug 19 18:00:57 2010
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Subject: [monkeywire] Dodge removes Suzie the chimp from its Tent Event
        commercial
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http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/unleashed/2010/08/invisible-dodge-monkey.html
[with video]

by Tony Pierce

Dodge removes Suzie the chimp from its Tent Event commercial

August 19, 2010 |  7:51 am

A few weeks ago Unleashed broke the story about the curious case of a
Dodge tent event commercial starring Suzie, the young chimpanzee,
which was pulled after the car manufacturer received complaints from
animal activists about their use of such an animal to hawk cars and
trucks.

"Most top ad agencies in the country won�t even consider producing an
ad featuring a great ape these days given the well-documented abuse
that young chimpanzees and orangutans suffer in the entertainment
industry," PETA's primatologist, Julia Gallucci, told The Times.

Dodge acknowleged that they heard and understood the complaints, and
promised to change the commercial to appease the outraged groups. "The
ad was an innocent act only trying to be humorous," Kristin Starnes,
head of Dodge car brand communications, wrote us in an e-mail. "In no
way did the brand intend to promote any questionable practices. With
the planned modification, we are simply taking some sound advice and
altering direction in respect of PETA's initiatives."

So how would they modify a tv commercial? To refresh your memory, here
is the original spot ...