Florida City on High Alert After Multiple Reports of Monkeys Wandering the Town
Many strange news headlines come out of Florida every day, and this latest one is no exception. In fact, this unusual case is gaining national attention! There are animals running loose around Orange City, but they're not native to Florida.
They're not even native to the United States! The Rhesus Macaques monkeys that have been spotted have been living in Florida since the 1930's, but they've never been seen like this before. After many sightings, the Orange City Police Department has issued a series of warnings telling everyone to stay away.
We have to admit--casually spotting a monkey would be very cool, but we could imagine that things could get tricky if the primate became aggressive. Unfortunately, there's reason to believe that people have fed these animals, leading them further and further into suburban and city areas. Remember--these are not pet monkeys!
Rhesus Macaques monkeys were first brought to Florida by the manager of a glass bottom boat tour company. He released six of the exotic animals in hopes that they would increase his business--and they did! The monkeys swam to nearby forests and reproduced before an additional 6 monkeys were released in Silver Springs Park in 1948.
At times, this population of macaques has reached over 400 individuals. More recently, though the numbers are lower; there were about 190 monkeys reported in 2015. However, Silver Springs Park is over an hour away from Orange City, where the monkey sightings have recently happened.
On Wednesday, Popeyes employee Kimberly Bialobos spotted one of the wild monkeys outside of the drive-thru window around 9:30 am. She told Fox 35 News, "I look over and I'm like, ‘Is this real? This cannot be possible.' The monkey’s smart because he looked at the traffic and he knew not to go that way." What a cool animal sighting!
Still, not everything is fun and games with these monkeys. Even though these animals are small, they are capable of injuring people and pets with bites and scratches. This is why it's important not to feed these animals, and to give them as much space as possible.
If you see a Rhesus Macaques monkey in the Orange City area, you're encouraged to contact the wildlife alert hotline at 888-404-3922).
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