Monkeying Around for Votes: 16 Monkeys to Compete for Title of Most Popular in Oita

The Yomiuri Shimbun

17:53 JST, February 2, 2025

Ahead of a ‘monkey election’ to choose the most popular monkey, half of the candidates were selected at Takasakiyama Natural Zoological Garden in Oita Prefecture on Saturday.

The monkey election is a popular annual event held at the zoo since fiscal 2013.

For the selection, monkeys grabbed peanuts, causing a paper to unfurl with the name of a monkey. On the day, 8 candidates were selected.

A total of 16 monkey candidates will run in the election, which will take place from Feb.15 to March 15. The results will be announced on March 22.