Yes, there are wild monkeys in Florida. Like many other animals, they were introduced. In 1938, a tour boat operator, Colonel Tooey, released just 6 Rhesus macaque monkeys onto a small island, later converted to Silver Springs Park. His motive was to create a park closely resembling the Tarzan story; therefore, he procured the monkeys from New York City.
But what Colonel Tooey didn’t know is that this particular species of monkeys are excellent swimmers – they escaped the premises within minutes of releasing them. Thus, to replace them, six more monkeys were bought. They, too, escaped like the previous batch. By the early 1980s, these monkeys had already spread across what now is the 5000-acre Silver Springs Park.
I didn’t know there are monkeys in FL. When we lived in MO and went to the Forest Park Zoo in St. Louis, my mom could have spent the entire time watching the monkeys in their big cage
Great shots of the monkeys. I am sure, like Grandma, they will all think monkeys are native to Florida. Wonderful shots of the mama monkeys and their babies.
We always look for the Monkeys when kayaking but oh my goodness – the ones with the babies are priceless ! Beautiful photos !!!