3 Non-Native Primates Easily Found In Florida

[00:00:00]Florida has earned a reputation as the invasive species capital of the United States, and for good reason.

[00:00:06]The state's warm climate, abundant waterways, and proximity to the exotic pet trade have created the perfect conditions for non-native animals to escape, establish themselves, and thrive.

[00:00:18]Most people know about the Burmese pythons in the Everglades and the Nile monitors in Cape Coral.

[00:00:23]But there's another group of invasive animals in Florida that doesn't get nearly as much attention as it should.

[00:00:29]There are multiple species of non-native living wild in the Sunshine State, and some of them have been here for decades.

[00:00:37]In today's video, we'll be taking a look at three non-native primate species that can be found living wild in Florida.

[00:00:44]And to find our first species, we'll be heading to the southeastern coast.

[00:00:49]The squirrel monkey is one of the smallest primates in the New World, with adults typically weighing between 500 g and 1.1 kg.

[00:00:59]And they are native to the tropical forests of Central and South America.

[00:01:03]In their natural habitat, they live in large, noisy troops that can number over 100 individuals, and they spend their days leaping through the forest canopy in search of insects, fruit, and the occasional small vertebrate.

[00:01:18]They are incredibly agile and fast, capable of making jumps that seem impossible for an animal their size.

[00:01:25]And their long, non-prehensile tails act as counterbalances that help them maintain their equilibrium during these acrobatic displays. They are also one of the most intelligent primates relative to their body size, with a brain-to-body mass ratio that is actually higher than that of humans.

[00:01:43]Though brain-to-body ratios are an imperfect measure of intelligence and shouldn't be interpreted too literally.

[00:01:50]In Florida, squirrel monkeys have been present in small feral populations for decades, and their story is tied to the state's long and often absurd history with the exotic animal trade.

[00:02:01]During the mid-20th century, squirrel monkeys were among the most popular primates in the American pet trade, and they were imported into the United States in staggering numbers.

[00:02:12]At the peak of the trade in the 1960s and 1970s, tens of thousands of squirrel monkeys were shipped from South America to the United States each year.

[00:02:22]And they were sold in pet shops, advertised in the classified sections of magazines, offered as prizes at fairs and carnivals, and even available through mail-order catalogs.

[00:02:33]For a brief and misguided period in American history, you could quite literally order a monkey through the mail, and it would arrive at your doorstep in a crate with a bow on it.

[00:02:43]The advertisements promised a fun, lovable companion that would sit on your shoulder and eat grapes.

[00:02:49]And they conveniently omitted the parts about the biting, the screaming at 5:00 a.m., and the unique primate habit of urinating on their own hands as a form of scent marking.

[00:02:59]Of course, most people who bought a squirrel monkey as a pet quickly discovered that a small, hyperactive, highly social primate with a tendency to bite when stressed, a need for the company of dozens of other monkeys to be psychologically healthy, and a habit of coating itself in its own urine was not exactly the ideal household companion.

[00:03:20]The novelty wore off quickly, and many of these animals were released by overwhelmed owners who had no idea what else to do with them.

[00:03:27]Others escaped from the roadside attractions, mini zoos, and animal parks that were once scattered across Florida like gas stations, each one advertising its own collection of exotic animals that visitors could pet, feed, and photograph for a few dollars.

[00:03:43]Most of these establishments had questionable containment at best, and escapes were common.

[00:03:48]The most well-documented feral squirrel monkey population in Florida was found in the Fort Lauderdale area where a small group established themselves in the suburban tree canopy and managed to survive for years by adapting to an entirely different lifestyle from anything their species had evolved for.

[00:04:07]Instead of foraging in the vast canopy of Amazonian rainforest alongside toucans and macaws, they were navigating the palm trees and ornamental ficus of South Florida suburbia alongside lawn sprinklers and swimming pools.

[00:04:21]They adapted remarkably well, feeding on ornamental fruits in residential gardens, raiding bird feeders with the kind of dexterity that no squirrel could match, and supplementing their diet with insects, small lizards, and the occasional gecko that they caught in the trees.

[00:04:39]Their small size and their ability to move quickly through the upper canopy made them extremely difficult to catch or even to count, and most residents who encountered them found them more charming and endearing than threatening.

[00:04:52]Unlike some of the other primates on this list, squirrel monkeys pose very little danger to humans.

[00:04:58]They can bite if handled or cornered, but they are far too small to cause serious injury, and they generally avoid direct contact with people.

[00:05:08]The main concern with feral squirrel monkeys is the potential for disease transmission as they can carry parasites and pathogens that could be transmitted to native wildlife or to humans who attempt to handle them.

[00:05:20]Their population in Florida has always been small and somewhat precarious, and it's unclear how many feral squirrel monkeys remain in the state today.

[00:05:28]Some populations may have died out naturally due to inbreeding, predation by hawks and owls, or the loss of the specific trees and food sources they depend on.

[00:05:38]Others may still be hanging on in pockets of suburban canopy that provide enough food and shelter to sustain a small group.

[00:05:45]They are not considered a significant ecological threat in Florida, as their small size and specialized diet mean they don't compete heavily with native wildlife.

[00:05:55]But their presence is a reminder of the state's long history of treating exotic animals as commodities, and of the inevitable consequences when those animals find their way into the wild. The squirrel monkey takes the third place spot.

[00:06:08]And for our next section, we'll be staying in the Fort Lauderdale area, as our next primate is found just a few miles away.

[00:06:16]The vervet monkey is a medium-sized primate native to sub-Saharan Africa, and it has become one of the most studied primates in the world, thanks to its complex social behavior, its sophisticated alarm call system, and as we covered in another video, its fondness for stealing alcoholic drinks from tourists in the Caribbean.

[00:06:37]Males can reach weights of around 5 to 8 kg, which makes them significantly larger and more robust than the squirrel monkey. They are highly adaptable animals that have proven capable of thriving in a wide range of habitats across Africa, from dense forest to open savanna to urban environments.

[00:06:56]And this adaptability is part of what has made them successful invaders in the few places where they have been introduced outside of their native range. In Florida, a small but remarkably well-established population of vervet monkeys has been living wild in the Dania Beach area, just south of Fort Lauderdale, since at least the 1940s.

[00:07:17]The origin of this population is somewhat murky, and has become the subject of local legend, with several competing stories about how they got there.

[00:07:25]The most commonly cited version is that they descended from a group of monkeys that either escaped or were deliberately released from a small primate research facility or private collection in the area sometime in the 1940s or 1950s.

[00:07:40]Another version suggests they escaped from a chimpanzee attraction called the Chimp Farm that once operated in the area.

[00:07:46]Though vervets are not chimpanzees, so this story may have gotten muddled over the years.

[00:07:52]A third account claims they were released by a retiring ship captain who had kept them as pets during his years at sea.

[00:07:59]Whatever the exact origin, and it's entirely possible that the true story involves elements of all three, the monkeys found that the coastal suburbs of southeastern Florida provided everything they needed to establish a permanent home. Warm temperatures year-round with winters mild enough that even a tropical African primate could survive comfortably.

[00:08:20]Abundant fruit trees in residential gardens, including mango, avocado, and various citrus species that provided food throughout the year. And no natural predators large enough to threaten a group of alert, fast-moving, and fiercely cooperative primates.

[00:08:35]Hawks and owls could potentially take a juvenile, but the adults are too large and too vigilant for most aerial predators.

[00:08:43]They settled into a stretch of mixed residential and green space near the coast, and they have been there ever since, outlasting multiple rounds of development, road construction, and hurricane seasons.

[00:08:55]The Dania Beach vervet monkeys have become a genuine local institution, and the community's relationship with them is complicated and deeply personal.

[00:09:04]Reactions to their presence are sharply divided, often splitting neighborhoods right down the middle.

[00:09:10]Some residents absolutely adore them and actively feed them, putting out plates of cut fruit, bread, and vegetables on their porches every morning, and treating them as treasured neighborhood mascots.

[00:09:22]These pro-monkey residents have formed informal networks to track the monkeys' movements, share photographs, and alert each other when the troop is in the area.

[00:09:31]Some have given individual monkeys names, and they follow the group's social dynamics with the kind of dedication that most people reserve for reality television.

[00:09:40]Others, however, find the monkeys to be a genuine nuisance and would happily see them removed.

[00:09:46]The anti-monkey camp points out that the monkeys can be destructive to gardens, ripping fruit from trees before it's ripe and digging up carefully maintained garden beds.

[00:09:55]They are noisy during their dawn and dusk activity periods, with their harsh alarm calls sometimes waking residents before sunrise.

[00:10:03]And they are bold enough to enter open garages, screened porches, and even kitchens if doors are left open, where they will ransack anything that looks like it might contain food.

[00:10:14]They have been known to pull screens off windows, open coolers, and tip over potted plants while searching for insects in the soil.

[00:10:22]Males can also be aggressive during the breeding season, displaying their canine teeth and lunging at people who get too close.

[00:10:30]And there have been a handful of incidents where residents have been scratched or bitten after attempting to shoo the monkeys away from their property or their pets.

[00:10:38]These bites, while not life-threatening, can require medical attention, a course of antibiotics, and occasionally a tetanus shot, which is not the kind of souvenir that most people want from their own backyard.

[00:10:52]From a conservation and public health perspective, the vervet monkeys of Dania Beach present a genuine and somewhat philosophical dilemma.

[00:11:00]On one hand, they are a non-native species that probably shouldn't be there. And any introduction of a non-native primate into a new ecosystem carries risks, including disease transmission, competition with native wildlife for food and nesting sites, and unpredictable behavioral changes over generations.

[00:11:19]Vervets are known carriers of several parasites and pathogens that could theoretically be transmitted to native Florida wildlife, and as their population grows, so does the risk of ecological disruption.

[00:11:30]On the other hand, they have been part of the Dania Beach community for over 70 years, which means they have been there longer than many of the human residents.

[00:11:40]They have a devoted local following that considers them a living part of the neighborhood's identity and history, and any attempt to remove or relocate them would face fierce opposition from people who have grown up watching these monkeys in their backyards.

[00:11:54]Previous proposals to trap and remove the monkeys have been met with organized public backlash, petitions, and media campaigns. And for now, the population is being managed through monitoring, education, and encouraging residents not to feed them, rather than through active removal.

[00:12:12]If you're interested in the world's most dangerous animals and the threats they pose, then you might want to check out our ebook, The Deadliest 50 Animals on Earth. We wrote it ourselves, and the link is in the description.

[00:12:25]The current population is estimated at around 40 to 50 individuals, which is small enough to be vulnerable to disease outbreaks or habitat changes, but apparently stable enough to have persisted for decades.

[00:12:37]The vervet monkey takes the second place spot.

[00:12:40]And for our final section, we'll be heading to Central Florida for the largest and most controversial feral primate population in the state.

[00:12:48]The rhesus macaque is a medium-to-large monkey native to South and Southeast Asia, and it has one of the widest distributions of any non-human primate in the world, ranging from Afghanistan through India, China, and into Southeast Asia.

[00:13:03]They are tough, intelligent, highly adaptable animals that have proven capable of thriving in environments ranging from tropical forests to Himalayan mountains to the busiest cities in India, where they regularly raid food stalls, enter buildings, and cause chaos on an impressive scale.

[00:13:21]In India, rhesus macaques are considered sacred by many Hindus because of their association with the monkey god Hanuman.

[00:13:29]And this cultural protection has allowed their urban populations to explode in some cities, creating a human-primate conflict that has no easy solution.

[00:13:39]In some parts of New Delhi, gangs of macaques roam through government buildings, steal food from offices, and have even been implicated in at least one human death when a senior government official fell from a balcony while trying to fend off attacking monkeys.

[00:13:55]They are, in short, exactly the kind of animal that you don't want establishing a feral population in your state.

[00:14:02]And yet, in Florida, that's exactly what has happened.

[00:14:07]The story of Florida's rhesus macaques begins in the late 1930s at Silver Springs, a crystal-clear natural spring in Marion County, central Florida, that was once one of the most popular tourist attractions in the entire state.

[00:14:21]The springs are fed by an underground aquifer that produces water of such remarkable clarity that you can see the bottom even at depths of over 20 m.

[00:14:31]And this transparency made Silver Springs a natural choice for the glass-bottomed boat tours that had been operating here since the 1870s.

[00:14:39]By the 1930s, Silver Springs was a thriving tourist destination that attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. And it had even been used as a filming location for several Tarzan movies and other Hollywood productions that needed a lush, tropical setting without the expense of traveling to an actual jungle.

[00:14:58]The man responsible for introducing the macaques was a tour boat operator named Colonel Tooey.

[00:15:04]Though it's worth noting that his title of colonel appears to have been self-appointed rather than military, which tells you something about the kind of character we're dealing with.

[00:15:14]In 1938, Colonel Tooey released a small group of six rhesus macaques onto a small island in the Silver River to create a Tarzan-themed jungle attraction for his boat tours.

[00:15:25]The idea was simple and on the surface quite clever.

[00:15:29]Tourists floating past on their glass-bottomed boats would see wild monkeys on a tropical island, which would add an exotic element to the experience and justify charging a few extra cents per ticket.

[00:15:42]The plan was to contain the monkeys on the island where they could be viewed safely from the boats as they passed by.

[00:15:48]What Colonel Tooey apparently didn't know, or perhaps didn't consider important, was that rhesus macaques are excellent swimmers.

[00:15:56]The monkeys explored their new island home for approximately the amount of time it took them to get bored, and then they swam to the mainland and disappeared into the surrounding hardwood forest.

[00:16:06]And they have been expanding their range ever since, turning Colonel Tooey's small tourist gimmick into one of the most persistent wildlife management headaches in the state of Florida.

[00:16:16]Today, the Silver Springs rhesus macaque population is estimated at anywhere from 700 to over 1,000 individuals, depending on the source.

[00:16:25]And they have spread far beyond the original release site.

[00:16:29]They have been spotted in multiple counties across Central Florida, and their range appears to be expanding as the population grows and younger animals disperse in search of new territory.

[00:16:40]They are now found in residential neighborhoods, parks, campgrounds, and along roads and bridges, and encounters between macaques and humans are becoming increasingly common.

[00:16:51]These encounters are not always pleasant.

[00:16:54]Rhesus macaques are significantly larger and more aggressive than either of the other primates on this list, with males weighing up to 12 kg and possessing large canine teeth that can inflict serious bite wounds.

[00:17:08]They are not naturally afraid of humans, and in areas where they have been fed by tourists and residents, they can become bold, demanding, and sometimes aggressive when food is not provided.

[00:17:19]But the biggest concern surrounding the Silver Springs macaques isn't their behavior or their nuisance factor.

[00:17:25]It's their health, and specifically, one virus that has turned what could be a charming local curiosity into a genuine public health crisis.

[00:17:34]Studies have shown that a significant percentage of the Florida rhesus macaque population carries herpes B virus, also known as cercopithecine herpes virus 1, or macacine alphaherpesvirus 1.

[00:17:47]In macaques, herpes B is usually asymptomatic or causes only mild symptoms similar to cold sores, and most infected macaques carry the virus for their entire lives without any obvious health problems.

[00:18:00]In this respect, herpes B in macaques behaves very much like herpes simplex virus in humans.

[00:18:06]A mostly harmless nuisance that flares up occasionally and is easily forgotten about.

[00:18:13]But if herpes B crosses the species barrier and is transmitted to a human, the picture changes dramatically and terrifyingly.

[00:18:21]In humans, herpes B can cause acute encephalitis, which is a severe inflammation of the brain, and the fatality rate for untreated human herpes B infections is estimated at around 70 to 80%. Even with aggressive antiviral treatment, which must be started as quickly as possible after exposure, many survivors suffer permanent neurological damage, including cognitive impairment, motor difficulties, and in some cases a persistent vegetative state.

[00:18:49]Transmission can occur through a bite, a scratch, contact with the monkey's saliva, urine, or other bodily fluids, or even through contact with objects that a shedding monkey has recently handled.

[00:19:02]There have been approximately 50 documented cases of human herpes B infection since the virus was first identified in 1932, when a researcher named William Brebner died after being bitten by a macaque he was studying, and 21 of those 50 cases were fatal. The percentage of Florida's feral macaques that carry herpes B has been estimated at between 25 and 30% in some studies, with a 2018 study finding that approximately a quarter of the sampled population tested positive for the virus.

[00:19:33]Other researchers have suggested the true prevalence could be even higher, as stress and social interactions can cause the virus to reactivate and shed intermittently, meaning that a monkey that tests negative today could test positive tomorrow.

[00:19:47]This means that every interaction between a macaque and a human, whether it's a tourist taking a selfie, a homeowner chasing a monkey off their porch, or a child encountering one on a playground, carries a small but genuine risk of a potentially fatal disease transmission.

[00:20:04]And the risk isn't just theoretical.

[00:20:07]In 2017, a woman visiting Silver Springs State Park was reportedly urinated on by a macaque, which prompted a review of the park's macaque management protocols and raised questions about whether enough was being done to protect visitors.

[00:20:22]Despite this, managing the population has proven to be extraordinarily difficult.

[00:20:27]Proposals to trap and remove the macaques have been met with fierce opposition from animal rights groups and members of the public who view the monkeys as part of the Silver Springs ecosystem and oppose their removal on ethical grounds. Some advocates argue that the macaques have been in Florida for nearly a century and should be considered naturalized citizens, while public health officials counter that the herpes B risk makes coexistence untenable in the long term.

[00:20:55]The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has tried various approaches over the years, including trapping and removing monkeys from areas where they come into close contact with humans. And in 2018, the state officially banned the feeding of wild monkeys, making it illegal for residents and tourists to offer food to the macaques. The logic was sound. If people stop feeding the monkeys, the monkeys will become less habituated to human presence and will be less likely to approach people, which should reduce the risk of disease transmission.

[00:21:28]But enforcing a feeding ban on scattered troops of wild monkeys across multiple counties is far easier said than done and compliance has been inconsistent.

[00:21:38]Some residents continue to feed the monkeys either out of affection or because they don't know about the ban.

[00:21:44]And the monkeys that have been habituated to human food sources over decades don't simply forget about them overnight.

[00:21:50]The sheer size of the population and the difficulty of catching intelligent, wary primates in dense subtropical forest means that removal efforts have had limited impact on the overall numbers.

[00:22:02]Some of the removed monkeys have been sent to primate sanctuaries, while others were historically sold to biomedical research facilities, which generated significant controversy and public outrage when it became widely known.

[00:22:15]In 2012, a report revealed that over 700 macaques had been removed from Silver Springs and sold to research labs over the previous decade.

[00:22:25]And the backlash was so intense that the practice was eventually curtailed.

[00:22:30]Meanwhile, the monkeys continue to breed at a rate of roughly 10 to 12% per year, continue to spread into new areas, and continue to show up in places where nobody expected to see a troop of wild monkeys, including parking lots, playgrounds, highway medians, and the driveways of very confused homeowners who moved to Florida expecting alligators, but did not expect monkeys.

[00:22:52]The Silver Springs rhesus macaques are the most established and most problematic feral primate population in the United States.

[00:23:00]And their story is a cautionary tale about what happens when exotic animals are released into environments where they don't belong.

[00:23:08]What started as a gimmick to entertain tourists on a boat ride has become a public health concern and a conservation dilemma that has no easy solution.

[00:23:17]If Colonel Tooey had known in 1938 that his Tarzan-themed attraction would still be causing headaches nearly a century later, he might have thought twice about putting those monkeys on that island.

[00:23:29]Then again, given how quickly they swam off the island, it's possible that the macaques had their own plans all along.

[00:23:38]The rhesus macaque easily takes the first-place spot, and it's a story that perfectly encapsulates everything that makes Florida the wildest state in the country.

[00:23:48]And once again, if you want to learn about the deadliest animals on the planet, check out our ebook, The Deadliest 50 Animals on Earth.

[00:23:56]The link is in the description.

[00:23:59]Of course, there may be other non-native primates living living wild in Florida that I haven't covered, as escaped exotic pets are unfortunately common in the state.

[00:24:08]If you have any thoughts or suggestions, then feel free to let me know down below.

[00:24:13]But for now, thank you for watching, and I'll see you next time.