Monkey 'queen' led a violent coup to become her troop's first female leader. Now her reign is in jeopardy.

A macaque is bathing in a hot spring. Mark Fox is the photographer.

In southern Japan, a young female macaque took control of her troop through a violent primate coup. Her empire could come crumbling down due to one unstoppable force.

The first female troop leader in the park's 70 year history is a 9-year-old female named Yakei, who lives in a Japanese macaque reserve called the Takasakiyama Natural Garden.

The New York Times wrote an article about the rise of the monkey matriarch, who became the top female in the troop after attacking her own mother.

Yu Kaigaishi, a research fellow at the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, told The New York Times that macaques in Japan are very rare in takeovers by aggressive females.

The Japanese macaques are known as snow monkeys for their habit of basking in hot springs when the weather gets snowy, and higher-ranking monkeys get greater access to food and mates. Female macaques inherit the rank just below their mother's because they spend more time in a particular troop. macaques can seize higher ranks.

Kaigaishi said that the contests for position are almost exclusively between males and that the rise of Yakei to power was shocking and exciting to researchers who followed her case. The experts at the reserve said that after ousting the top male, Yakei began to exhibit traditionally male behaviors, such as shaking tree branches with her body.

After nearly a year in the top spot, Yakei's position may be in jeopardy during the chaos that is mating season. The reserve researchers say that an 18-year-old male named Luffy has been making unwanted advances on Yakei since this year's breeding season began. Queen Yakei seems to think of Luffy with fear.

Kaigaishi told the Times that he observed that Yakei had a facial expression that was typical of subordinates against Luffy. I observed that Luffy pushed Yakei away to get more food.

The researchers said that it's possible that Luffy is in the process of dethroning Yakei to become the troop's new alpha. Or, it could be a simple matter of courting, with Yakei showing Luffy that she isn't buying into his monkeyshines.

For now, she holds onto her crown. Her tale is about to get even more bananas.
It was originally published on Live Science.