Tuesday, May 02, 2006

Anarchic Monkeys

Farmers in Puerto Rico are up in arms about recent attacks on their crops by packs of feral monkeys, according to this report from the Contra Costa Times. The farmers are under seige from at least two different species: patas monkeys (Erythrocebus patas) and rhesus monkeys (Macaca mulatta) that escaped from a medical research facility in the mid-20th century, and additional animals released on a nearby offshore island around the same time. All in all, there are more than 2000 monkeys now inhabiting southwest Puerto Rico. The San Juan Department of Natural and Environmental Resources and Puerto Rico's Department of Agriculture had made plans to capture the monkeys and sell them to...medical research laboratories, but a lack of funding has prevented that management plan from being implemented so far.

(Stop making the eyes at me, I'll stop making the eyes at you...)

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