KOBE - A series of monkey sightings has been reported across urban areas in Hyogo Prefecture, including Kobe and Himeji, with several residents injured after encounters with the animal, as investigators uncovered surprising details about the monkey’s behavior.
Videos of monkeys appearing in residential neighborhoods have been spreading across social media, showing the animals running through city streets, climbing rooftops, and even crossing roads in busy urban districts.
According to Hyogo Prefecture’s official app, monkey sightings have been reported almost daily since March, with dozens of cases logged in Kobe’s Kita and Nishi wards as well as in Himeji and surrounding Harima areas.
Residents who encountered the monkey described seeing a small animal moving quickly through neighborhoods. One person who filmed the monkey said it suddenly charged toward them, causing them to fall and suffer injuries. Another resident who encountered the animal while walking a dog said the monkey appeared much smaller than expected and immediately fled when spotted.
In Kakogawa, two elementary school students suffered scratches to their cheeks after being attacked by a monkey on the same day footage was recorded. On April 28th, a woman in Himeji was bitten on the arm and sustained minor injuries.
Tracking the locations and dates of the sightings revealed a striking pattern. Sightings in Kobe continued until April 11th before abruptly stopping. Beginning the following day, reports shifted eastward through Akashi, Kakogawa, Takasago and other areas before concentrating around Himeji from mid-April onward.
The pattern raised the possibility that a single monkey may have traveled more than 50 kilometers from Kobe to Himeji.
A television crew investigating the sightings later succeeded in filming the monkey near Himeji Castle during the Golden Week holidays. Witnesses near the tourist area reported seeing a small monkey running through the streets and climbing onto vehicles and rooftops.
Officials in Himeji said the monkey had repeatedly appeared near commercial facilities, prompting the city to install cage traps baited with food in parking lots late last month. However, the monkey has so far avoided capture.
Footage captured by the crew showed a lone monkey calmly moving across rooftops, balancing along walls, stepping over car bonnets, and eating fruit before quickly disappearing from sight.
Experts who reviewed the footage said the monkey appeared to be a young male Japanese macaque around four years old. Wildlife specialist Tadashi Mikiyoshi, who has spent two decades studying monkeys and serves as an adviser on wildlife damage prevention for the Agriculture Ministry, said the monkeys filmed in various cities were likely the same individual.
Mikiyoshi explained that young male monkeys sometimes leave their groups and wander long distances in search of new troops to join, comparing the behavior to young adults leaving home.
Although Japanese macaques normally avoid humans, experts believe some monkeys have become increasingly comfortable entering urban areas after learning they can easily obtain food such as vegetables from home gardens.
The monkey is believed to have remained around Himeji for more than two weeks, though experts say predicting where it will move next is impossible.
Authorities are urging residents to remain calm if they encounter a monkey. Experts advise against staring directly at the animal, shouting, or making sudden movements. Instead, people should slowly back away while keeping the monkey in view until a safe distance is created.
Specialists also warned that women and children are more likely to be targeted during encounters and said dealing with highly mobile monkeys in dense urban areas remains extremely difficult under current wildlife protection laws.
Source: KTV NEWS
