The snow monkeys of Japan are famous, as monkeys go. This troop of Japanese macaques lives in the north, near Nagano, the mountainous, snowy site of the 1998 Winter Olympics. Others of their species ...

After the first big snowfall of the year, dozens of wild Japanese monkeys escaped to the warmth of a hot spring at the Jigokudani Wild Monkey Park on Monday. Japanese monkeys are the only ones known ...

Tourists flock to see the macaques bathe in natural hot springs to survive the cold, but concerns about the animals' welfare are rising. Visitors sometimes violate park rules by touching or feeding ...

YAMANOUCHI, Japan -- The scene is rugged. Cliffs jut up from around a snow-fed stream, then taper off into rolling evergreen forests and, farther off, into the frosted peaks of the central Japan Alps.