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Four Places Where Animals Have Tamed Humans
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Amanda Mannen
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- April 26, 2024
Ever since humans began walking upright and inventing business buzzwords, other animals have gotten the shaft. Those not wise enough to stay in the sea have been pushed onto ever-diminishing tracts of land for “conservation” or corralled into zoos for their oppressors to gawk at.
Well, nature is healing — at least in some places, where the animals have enchanted, tricked or downright forced humans to prioritize their needs for a change.
4The Christmas Island Crabs
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The Christmas Island Crabs
In what must look like the beginning of a disaster movie, during the first rainfall of every year, millions of crabs make their way across Christmas Island in Australia to the seaside, where they commence what must be the world’s largest crab orgy. Most people, upon witnessing this, would simply abandon the island to the crabs and never speak of it again, but Australians are built differently. They actually close some roads and build bridges over others to protect the crabs’ journey and even gather to watch the species-wide walk of shame.
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3The Lopburi Monkeys
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The Lopburi Monkeys
The macaques of Lopburi have long been a symbol of the city, but after a boom of tourists delighted to share their satay started showing up about a decade ago, the monkeys began invading urban areas in droves — aggressively, too. Now, they’re straight-up mugging passersby that don’t hand over the goods fast enough, and since the macaques are a protected species, there are limited options for controlling them. Even a massive neutering campaign barely made a dent. In 2024, local wildlife officials announced plans to round up the “more aggressive alpha males” to be relocated to new enclosures. That’s right: They’re sending them to monkey jail.
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2The Sika Deer of Nara and Miyajima Island
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The Sika Deer of Nara and Miyajima Island
In most of Japan, deer are considered a nuisance, but hundreds of them wander the city of Nara and Miyajima Island as freely as squirrels thanks to local legend that they’re spiritual messengers brought to town by a god. In fact, until 1637, it was not only illegal to kill one of them, it was punishable by death. In the mid-20th century, they were declared “natural monuments,” which makes messing with them as taboo as stealing the Declaration of Independence, so we look forward to that installment of National Treasure.
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1The National Palace Cats of Mexico
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The National Palace Cats of Mexico
Presidents come and go, but the feral cats that have roamed the grounds of the National Palace (basically Mexico’s White House) for the last half a century are there to stay. That’s not just a platitude — as of April 2024, it’s a law. President Andrés Manuel López Obrador has declared the currently 19 cats “living fixed assets” of the palace, which means the Treasury must provide for their care for the rest of their lives, just for showing up, hanging out and being cute. We don’t recommend you try this at our White House.
