OCALA, FL — A troop of dozens of feral rhesus macaque monkeys recently cannonballed into an Ocala couple’s kayaking trip at Silver Springs State Park — and they caught it on video, to the absolute delight of legions of people who have viewed it.
Trenda Kitchen told WRBW, the Fox affiliate in Orlando, that she and her husband watched the monkeys playfully splashing in the water near the banks of Silver River for 10 or 15 minutes.
They paddle the river every other day or so, hoping to see the monkeys, which were introduced about 80 years ago and now number around 300. They rounded a bend in the river and were rewarded. Watching from across the river was another monkey who “started acting up,” Kitchen told the news station.
“I think that’s what got them all fired up, and then they started jumping into the river,” she said.
“It’s raining monkeys!” Kitchen can be heard saying on the video.
She called the macaques’ synchronized swimming show a “special treat.”
“We go to the river for that reason. We’ve seen them a dozen at a time on the riverbank,” she said.
But never have they witnessed a spectacle like this one.
Kitchen said she wasn’t scared
“They could have been on my boat and I wouldn’t have cared,” she said.
‘They Can Ambush You Out Of Nowhere’
Kitchen, who moved to Ocala from Ohio several years ago, said she was surprised by how many native Floridians don’t know there are monkeys in the state.
Rhesus macaque monkeys are native to south and southeast Asia. In 1938, a tour boat operator by the name of Colonel Tooey released six of them on a small island that was later converted to Silver Springs Park, according to the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
He obtained the monkeys in New York City with the goal of creating a park similar to the one portrayed in the Tarzan stories, according to a blog post on the agency’s website.
He didn’t know monkeys were such excellent swimmers. They escaped within minutes. So Tooey brought in another batch. They, too, escaped, and by the 1980s were dispersed throughout the 5,000-acre Silver Springs Park.
Kitchen’s delight at seeing the monkeys is the Department of Environmental Protection’s vexation.
“As far as the Silver Springs in Florida goes, the monkeys that thrive there are an invasive species that carry a chronic disease that could be fatal to humans,” the blog post said. “While there’s a lot to explore on the silver springs, the monkeys are to watch out for, as they can ambush you out of nowhere and might even pass on Herpes to you.”
‘They Might Chase You Down’
The monkeys are typically calm and comfortable around human beings, according to the blog, but “they sometimes get aggressive and nasty, causing a nuisance for the visitors.”
They don’t tire easily and, “at times, they might chase you down for a long time,” the blog warned.
About 30 percent of monkeys carry Herpes B, which can be fatal to humans, causing brain and spinal cord swelling.
“The body fluids of these monkeys are the main culprit, and therefore, restrict yourself from getting closer to them no matter how cute and calm they appear,” the blog said. “Even though they are considered a menace to the visitors, some locals love them and are against removing these monkeys from the park.”
Florida officials ordered the removal of 1,000 monkeys from the area between 1984 and 2012, and also sterilized 20 females at the same time. Their capture was halted with the discovery they were being sold for biomedical research.
Officials think that if they can sterilize half the existing female population, they can significantly control the species’ growth.