Basking in hot tubs and grooming their fur, Japanese macaque monkeys are acclimating to their new home at Lincoln Park Zoo’s newest exhibit, the Regenstein Macaque Forest, which is set to open to the public in May.

The exhibit is part of a $15.5 million capital improvement plan that includes the Lionel Train Adventure, a carousel ride, additional dining space and restrooms and a new western entrance, Lincoln Park Zoo Public Relations Coordinator Jillian Braun said in a Jan. 28 emailed statement. Construction began on the exhibit during the summer of 2013.

The exhibit houses five female and three male macaques, all between 9–10 years old. Webcams, macaque educators and exhibit signage will be added to enhance visitors’ experiences before the exhibit opens in May. The exhibit was built to simulate the macaque’s natural habitat, Braun said in the email. The exhibit is 7,300 square feet and features real and artificial trees, a hot spring and a stream, as well as different micro-climates created with heating rocks and other elements that allow the monkeys to experience a variety of temperatures. 

“Macaques are very unique based on the climate in which they reside,” Braun said. “They are found on almost every island in Japan, ranging from sub-tropical lowlands to sub-alpine regions.”

Although the monkeys, also known as snow monkeys, are accustomed to cold climates, Braun said that the monkeys will continue to thrive in the summer because they are used to extreme temperatures, and climate-controlling elements will help keep the animals comfortable. Braun said that because macaques have a wide-ranging, omnivorous diet, they eat more than 213 different species of plants in addition to obtaining protein from seeds and small insects. 

The zoo does not count the number of patrons who visit its free exhibits, which Braun said makes it difficult to predict whether the macaques will draw in additional visitors. However, she said she hopes the exhibit will educate the zoo’s current annual 3.5 million visitors.

The Detroit Zoo is also home to snow monkeys. Patricia Janeway, communications director of the Detroit Zoological Society, said they have eight monkeys. She also said their 5,500-square-foot habitat, installed in 1993, is built to imitate a mountain.

“[The macaques] don’t actually swim in their hot tub or take a dip,” Janeway said. “They just sort of sit on the edge of it and bask in the steam. It’s very cute.”

Janeway later said in an email that the Detroit Zoo spends $6,113.75 annually on food for the macaques, which includes foods like Mazuri primate chow, leaf biscuits and fresh produce. She said the macaques in Detroit, also from Japan, fare well in the winter and summer months, making them a year-round attraction.

“[The exhibit] is very popular,” Janeway said. “They are active year-round, so they are always out, scampering over the rocks and climbing the trees. They’re very entertaining.”

Bonaventura Majolo, a reader at the University of Lincoln in the United Kingdom and a macaque expert, said Lincoln Park Zoo’s habitat is conducive to housing Japanese macaques because it highly resembles what their natural habitat is like in the wild. He said the social setup of the habitat is also realistic to social hierarchies in the wild because there are more females than males. He added that because macaques are flexible and tenacious animals, they should be able to enjoy life at the zoo for the duration of their lives.

“Macaques are quite easy to keep because they are extremely strong animals and they are capable of coping with very different environmental conditions,” Majolo said. “They reproduce very well even in enclosures where there isn’t a lot of environmental enrichment.”

Majolo said that in contrast with other primates, macaques tend to be more aggressive and function off of a social hierarchy that helps dictate that. He also said males are commonly more dominant.

“Because they have a very clear and steep dominant side, Japanese macaques are defined as a species where ranks are a reliable indicator of whether an individual will win or lose a fight,” Majolo said.

However, despite the aggressive nature of macaques, Majolo said they also have more friendly behaviors, which are usually exhibited through grooming their relatives.

“It’s not a society characterized solely by aggression,” Majolo said. “You also have friendly behavior. It’s something comparable to what we have in human friendship.”