YAKUSHIMA, JAPAN — A monkey was caught on camera humping a deer in the woods of Yakushima Island in southwestern Japan. What’s more, it seems like the action was consensual.
Japanese macaques are known to hitch rides on deer in the wild, but this was a different kind of ride. The video, recorded in November of 2015 by scientist Alexandre Bonnefoy, shows a macaque doinking a Sika deer, humping it 15 times in 10 seconds. Afterwards the deer was seen licking its butt.
The monkey then went at it with a second deer, chasing away two bystanders so they could have some alone time together. Another monkey tried to get in on the action, but he was thrown from a deer’s back.
According to a study by Bonnefoy and his colleagues, the strange behavior may be the result of “mate deprivation,” when monkeys who lack access to females of their own species are more likely to look for love elsewhere in the animal kingdom.
Japanese macaques are known to hitch rides on deer in the wild, but this was a different kind of ride. The video, recorded in November of 2015 by scientist Alexandre Bonnefoy, shows a macaque doinking a Sika deer, humping it 15 times in 10 seconds. Afterwards the deer was seen licking its butt.
The monkey then went at it with a second deer, chasing away two bystanders so they could have some alone time together. Another monkey tried to get in on the action, but he was thrown from a deer’s back.
According to a study by Bonnefoy and his colleagues, the strange behavior may be the result of “mate deprivation,” when monkeys who lack access to females of their own species are more likely to look for love elsewhere in the animal kingdom.
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