日本雪猴如何減壓？泡溫泉

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.

日本雪猴非常有名——就猴子來說。這群日本獼猴在北部生活，靠近1998年舉辦了冬奧會的多雪山區(qū)長野。

Others of their species live even farther north, farther than any other nonhuman primate, so they are able to adapt to winter weather.

這一物種還有一部分生活在更偏北的地區(qū)，在所有非人靈長類動物中是最北的，因此它們也能夠適應(yīng)冬季的天氣。

But the source of this troop’s fame is an adaptation that only they exhibit: soaking in hot spring bathing pools. Their habitat is full of natural hot springs that tend to be over 140 degrees Fahrenheit, a temperature that is apparently uncomfortable for the monkeys.

但這個(gè)群落的名氣卻來自于一種只有它們能展現(xiàn)出來的適應(yīng)力：在溫泉浴池中泡澡。在它們的棲息地，溫泉比比皆是，往往還超過了140華氏度(約合60攝氏度)，這樣的溫度對猴子來說顯然是不舒服的。

It wasn’t until 1963 that a young female macaque was first observed bathing in a pool built by a hotel, with the water cooled to a temperature comfortable enough for humans and monkeys.

直到1963年，人們才頭一次看到一只年輕的母猴子在酒店建造的一個(gè)溫泉池中泡澡，池水已經(jīng)冷卻到了對人類和猴子來說都適宜的溫度。

At first, one or two monkeys joining human visitors were a curiosity , but eventually they became a nuisance and health hazard, and a park was built with hot spring pools at a comfortable 104 degrees Fahrenheit, for monkeys only.

起初有一兩只猴子加入時(shí)，人類游客還挺好奇，但當(dāng)它們最終變成了一個(gè)麻煩和健康威脅時(shí)，人們便建起了一座溫泉公園，將池水溫度保持在舒適的104華氏度(約合40攝氏度)，供猴子專用。

The monkeys have been a long time tourist attraction and favorite of photographers, and it looked like they were trying to stay warm. Only recently have scientists investigated this behavior by measuring levels of stress hormones and observing the effects of social structure.

這些猴子向來都能吸引游客，也是攝影師的最愛，它們看起來像是想要取暖。但直到最近才有科學(xué)家通過測量壓力激素、觀察社會結(jié)構(gòu)的效應(yīng)，對這種行為進(jìn)行了研究。

Rafaela S.C. Takeshita and her colleagues at Kyoto University collected and tested the monkeys’ feces for levels of glucocorticoids, which increase with stress. The cold is known to cause levels of these hormones to go up. They published their results in the journal Primates.

拉斐拉·S·C·竹下(Rafaela S.C. Takeshita)和她的京都大學(xué)同事收集了猴子的糞便，對其進(jìn)行糖皮質(zhì)激素水平測試，糖皮質(zhì)激素水平會隨壓力增加。已知寒冷會促使這種激素水平上升。他們在《靈長目動物》(Primates)期刊上發(fā)表了這一成果。

As expected, during the periods when the monkeys were bathing, stress levels were down. Another indication of the value of bathing to the macaques was that the higher-ranking females spent more time in the pools.

正如所料，在猴子泡澡期間，壓力水平下降。另一個(gè)能表明泡澡對獼猴重要性的地方是，地位較高的母猴在池水里的時(shí)間更長。

Dr. Takeshita said that the males are usually on the periphery of the troop at this time of year and did not spend much time bathing, so she only studied the females.

竹下稱，在一年中的這段時(shí)間，公猴通常在群落的次要位置，不會花太多時(shí)間泡澡，因此她只對母猴進(jìn)行了研究。

She also said she was inspired by the monkeys, in a nonscientific way.

她還表示，猴子在一個(gè)非科學(xué)層面也帶給了她啟發(fā)。

“I confess that during my research, many times after, I jumped into one of the hot springs pools,” the ones for humans, that is.

“我承認(rèn)，在我的研究期間，有很多次做完研究之后，我都會扎進(jìn)一個(gè)溫泉浴池中，”不過，是人用的溫泉。