Do you hear that? That’s the sound of a new queen in town.
Yakei is the first female leader of a troop of 677 Japanese macaques, also known as snow monkeys, who live in Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden. The troop has made its home at the reserve for 70 years.
How Yakei got to the throne is described in gripping detail in an absolute banger of a piece by reporter Annie Roth for The New York Times. (Read that entire piece here.)
Some of the highlights of Yakei’s rise to power include her first overthrowing her own mother to become the top dog monkey among the troop’s females. Not stopping there, she then fought multiple high-ranking males ― and won ― before ultimately taking on and beating the troop’s then-leader for the highest-ranking spot.
Lest you thought the drama ended there, however, the Times also gets into how the upcoming mating season could potentially throw a wrench into the troop’s power rankings.
If you’re ready to chuck it all and pledge fealty to Yakei, well, then many people on Twitter are with you.
Others are finding themselves deeply invested in what happens next, convinced the entire situation would make an excellent series or young adult novel. (They’re right.)
And of course, the true empaths among us are simply concerned for the besieged monkey queen.
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