Snow Monkeys

Last Saturday, we visited snow monkey park called Jigokudani Yaenkoen (Hell Valley) in the northern part of Nagano. Its the home of more than 200 snow monkeys and I have always wanted to visit this place.



Japanese monkeys are inhabited only in the mountainous district. To reach the park, we have to walk 1.6km. It was snowing heavily on Saturday and when we saw the snow covered slope that we must walk on, we wanted to turn back and give up. We lingered around the area for about 10 mins before deciding to give it a try.

The way up was not easy as it was muddy and snowing. My shoes were dirty and I used the umbrella to support as it was slippery. One step wrong, I could fall into the deep mountain valley.


When we reached the park, the snowing got worse. However, when I saw the snow monkeys, I forgot all about the coldness. My hands were freezing but I couldn`t wait to capture these monkeys on my XD card. There were times when my fingers went numb and I couldn`t press the camera shutter. But, this was a chance not to be missed. I went around the park observing the monkeys and took many satisfying shots.

As the monkeys are raised in the wild, we were reminded not to touch them, feed them, not even look at them straight in the eyes. Staring at them is an expression of enmity in the monkeys` world and if the monkeys get the habit of receiving food from humans, they will become aggressive and attack humans for food.

Most of the monkeys in the parks were searching for food in the snow. I saw them digging something red which seems to be flower buds. A few will soak hours in the specially built hot spring to fend off coldness. I also saw a few monkey fights . I believe that the monkeys each have their own territory and other monkeys are out of bounds. They fight fiercely to protect their own place.

This is the first time for me to get so close to wild animals.
Mid-march was a good time to visit depsite the tough journey up as we can see the monkeys playing in the snow and soaking in the hot spring.The monkeys roam around freely in the park and it was really an unique experience to observe them right in front of your eyes.

I am no animal lover but I fell in love with these adorable , fluffy snow monkeys.