Monkeying around in Durban, SA

 March 30, 2025

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. ~ H. L. Mencken
(And that's my last political thought for the day...)

Today we visited Monkeyland. To be honest, it was not my first choice. All the big game drives had been booked before we had an opportunity. This was the only excursion left that featured a chance to see some animals.

It turned out brilliant!

 

Monkeyland is a rescue mission, a sort of retirement home for primates who've got a sad history. Some had been stolen from the wild and sold as illegal pets. (Never a good idea. Monkeys can be bad tempered and the bacteria under a primate's fingernails guarantees that even a scratch from one can be dangerous!) 

Some had been abused and we saw one poor fellow whose long tail had been docked.

Others had been kept in small zoos all over the world which have subsequently been closed. Since they've all lived in captivity, this fully fenced and electrified enclosure of several hectares is the equivalent of monkey-heaven. 

Our guide explained that they host both Old and New World primates. One of the best ways to spot the difference is that primates from the Americas have prehensile tails they can use to grip as if it was a fourth hand. No African monkeys do.  

The New World refugee above with the mohawk above was bottle raised in Brazil and still really likes humans. Whenever guests tour the park, he leaves his regular troop, and follows from the safety of the canopy to study us and creep down close enough to hear us speaking to him. However, like all the other primates in the park, he was careful not to come within reach.

There were several subspecies of capuchin monkeys. This little acrobat on the low wire checking out the offerings on his feeding station is an aptly named "golden capuchin.

You may recall that I was disappointed over missing the lemurs on Madagascar. Several of our fellow guests had visited Lemuria Land there and reported having lemurs climb on their shoulders and be very friendly.

I wasn't after that sort of interaction. The lemurs here in Monkeyland were still wild enough to remain a respectful distance from us, but curious enough in a simian way to want to look at us as much as we wanted to see them!

There are several kinds of lemurs other than this ring tailed one. Our guide called one subspecies "Panda" Lemurs because they are all black and white. The DH included a couple pics of them in his montage!

The howler monkeys above are the largest of the species in the park. The black one is the male, the orange-brown one is female. All the males in the park are neutered because the park is focused on rescue, not breeding. But if they were to have a juvenile howler, it would be colored like the female even if it was male. The black color only comes with maturity because the little guys would be too vulnerable to predators if they showed up as dark as dad.  

The monkey in the foreground looking over her shoulder at me is a spider monkey, so called because of her overly long legs and arms. She's unique in not having an opposable thumb.

There are about 7 different species at Monkeyland, but there's no rivalry or fighting between the troops. For one thing, they don't have to forage because they are fed regularly at several different feeding stations across the park. It's a large area and ranges up and down several hills. (In fact, our walk was quite a challenge to me because of the long ascending pulls made more tricky by lots of stones and tree roots snaking along the the ground.) But because there's plenty of space, none of the monkeys feel pressed by the others. 

There is, however, a pecking order. As you can see, the larger monkeys eat first. The three howlers and the spider monkey have claimed the feast first. The lemurs will descend when its safe to do so, followed by the smaller capuchins and vervets. 

But no one will go hungry. Even if there isn't a fresh offering of fruits, there's plenty of natural food available to them in the "Hidden Forest." They just might have to graze a bit while they leap through the canopy. 

One final bit to share. Our guide told us that all animals are colorblind, with one exception. That explains why the markings that look as if they'd stand out starkly to us (giraffe's mottled coats or the zebra's stripes) do work against their predators.  

Anyone care to guess which animal can see colors as well as we can?