Monkeys go on a diet

Updated 11.33 Tue Jul 01 2008

Keywords: diet, Ohama Park, japan, weight, obese, Monkeys, fat

Rhesus monkeys which live in an enclosure at Ohama Park in western Japan have been put on a diet.

Their calorie intake is now being cut down by nearly 60 per cent.

Though the park has not re-weighed the animals since the diet, the food control appears to have worked as some fat monkeys now have baggy skin - evidence of weight loss

Syoji Hasegawa, an Ohama Park superintendent who is in charge of monkeys said: "We don't really know the exact reason why the monkeys grew fat, but we reckon its because the monkeys are not only fed once a day by us, but also because this park is open 24 hour-a-day to visitors, who throw food into the enclosure."

When the park keepers first conducted a weight check on 50 of these Rhesus monkeys in September 2007, they found that some of them weighed almost 30 kilograms (66 pounds) - this was at least three times heavier than the average adult monkey.

Though the park has not re-weighed the animals since the diet, the food control appears to have worked as some fat monkeys now have baggy skin - evidence of weight loss.

A local student who is a regular visitor to Ohama Park said: "The monkeys certainly seem to have lost weight."