Lion-Tailed Macaques

On January 6, 1989, lion-tailed macaques were born at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle. The zoo, originally considered a gorilla habitat opened its doors in the late 1970's. This zoo is one of several that serves as a habitat for approximately 368 Macaque that partake in a breeding program to help ensure the survival of the species. Obviously the species are rare and quite unheard of as I was only able to find 1 book to review from the local library system. Several other books have been published and I have provided names/authors for those along with several links about the species.

Overbeck, Cynthia. Monkeys: The Japanese Macaques. 1981 (1971). Lerner Publications Company: Minneapolis, MN.

Macaque (muk-KAK), the monkey of topic in this book reside in the wild in several places throughout the world: the southern coast of Spain, North Africa, Asia, islands of the Pacific and Japan. As can be distinguished from the title, these Macaque monkeys reside in Japan and two species are mentioned: those living along the southern islands, and those living in the Japanese Alps, who have become known as snow monkeys. Survival of babies, grooming, feeding and behavior are just a few of the topics mentioned in great detail throughout.


This book, while much older than I would have preferred for a review, is quite informational. The non-fiction text would be appropriate for older children, as the language would be difficult for young children unless they are very big fans of monkeys! This book would probably fit best in a classroom library with the designated purpose of research, as the lengthy text would probably quickly result in the loss of student attention, unless you have an avid monkey fan among the students!

Websites about the Macaque species:

• Smithsonian National Zoological Park - Macaques
• Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle, WA - Factsheet
• America Zoo - Macaques

Other books about the Macaque species:

• Hana's Year, Carol Talley
• See No Evil, Emmett Davis
• Snow Monkeys, Mae Woods