Japanese macaque with one macaque recorded living in central Tokyo for several months. The Japanese macaque (snow monkey) has featured prominently in the religion, folklore, and art of Japan, as well as in proverbs and idiomatic expressions in the Japanese language. In Shinto belief, mythical beasts known as "raijū" sometimes appeared as monkeys and kept Raijin, the god of lightning, company. The "three wise monkeys", which warn people to "see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil", are carved in relief over the door of the famous Tōshō-gū shrine in Nikkō. The Japanese macaque is a feature of several fairy
Macaque and have become an invasive species in some human inhabited landscapes, such as the island of Mauritius and Silver Springs State Park in Florida. Macaques can be a threat to conservation, along with a threat to human wellbeing through carrying transmittable and fatal diseases. Currently, macaques as an invasive species are handled with several control methods. Aside from humans (genus "Homo"), the macaques are the most widespread primate genus, ranging from Japan to the Indian subcontinent, and in the case of the barbary macaque ("Macaca sylvanus"), to North Africa and Southern Europe. Twenty-three macaque species are currently recognized, all of