Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) are famous for bathing in hot springs and are studied extensively at Jigokudani. Their welfare in semi-wild, tourist-exposed populations raises important management questions.
Snow monkey welfare at tourist sites illustrates the complex welfare trade-offs of wildlife tourism and provisioning. The Jigokudani population has adapted culturally to hot spring use in a way that apparently reduces thermal stress in winter. However, provisioning programs that attract macaques for tourist observation alter natural ranging behavior, create food dependency, and may increase stress from high-density aggregations around provisioning sites. Lower-ranking individuals excluded from the hot spring during cold weather by dominant animals face cold stress that the social context prevents them from resolving. Elevated cortisol in provisioned populations reflects these social and behavioral compromises. Tourism that maintains appropriate distance without supplementary feeding allows observation of authentic behavior with lower welfare impact. The broader question of managing semi-wild populations at the interface of conservation and tourism requires ongoing welfare monitoring and evidence-based management adjustment.