![]() “If I was the manager, I would want to try to have them removed,” says Johnson, “But it’s not an easy decision, and it won’t be an easy task.” The situation, he acknowledges, is complicated. With the primates’ population set to double by 2022, wildlife managers in the state are continuing their efforts to remove the terrors, but haven’t offered up many details on just how they’ll rid the state of the growing problem. “Fortunately nothing has happened yet, but I wouldn’t want to have that looming over me if I was the state.” “There’s a low risk, but very high consequence should something happen,” Johnson says. The monkeys are on the state’s “do not feed,” list, but Johnson says more must be done. While initially a thrill for riders of the captain’s glass-bottom boat expeditions, the animals quickly became a threat. Inspired by the film “Tarzan,” and looking to increase his tour’s allure, Tooey released six rhesus macaques onto an area island, where they have thrived and multiplied across Florida ever since. The primates are not native to the sunshine state’s Silver Springs State Park, but were introduced to the area by a wily tour guide, named Colonel Tooey, in the 1930s. The saga of these monkeys’ trail of terror began nearly 100 years ago. Kayaker Rod Guynn captured the moment rhesus macaques dove into the Silver River this October, putting on display their strong swimming skills, and offering a warning to other park-goers of how close the animals can get. The threat became a real one in November, when a monkey infected a Japanese scientist with herpes-B, putting the lab worker in critical condition.Īnd they can swim - fast. They’re wreaking havoc on the environment, gorging themselves on quail eggs and 50 species of plants.Īnd most menacingly, about 30 percent of those caught harbored herpes-B virus, and some actively carried the disease in their saliva and other bodily fluids, meaning it could easily be transmitted via a bite. The rhesus macaque population in Silver Springs State Park has grown to more than 1,000 statewide, increasingly terrified state officials say. “I personally am concerned,” Steve Johnson, associate professor of wildlife ecology at the University of Florida, tells the Guardian. And the rhesus macaques’ ranks are growing. What is Monkeypox virus? Maryland infection is second in US of 2021įeral primates capable of spreading deadly herpes are plaguing Floridians and the state’s wildlife, experts complain. Texas assistant coach, ex-stripper girlfriend sued in bizarre monkey bite saga Pet monkey fed cocaine before almost getting flushed down toilet Rampaging monkeys kill 250 dogs in revenge massacre
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