Now what?)īut the population continues to expand, perhaps with increasing speed. Officials also sterilized 20 female macaques during that time. By the 1980s, hundreds had spread out across the 5,000-acre park.īetween 19, Florida wildlife officials authorized the removal of more than 1,000 monkeys in an effort to slow population growth and prevent conflict with humans. Six more macaques were brought in to replace them, but they escaped as well. Within hours of arriving on the island, the pink-faced monkeys began escaping into the woods. Unbeknownst to Tooey, rhesus macaques are strong swimmers.
He procured the monkeys from a primate dealer in New York City with the intention to create a Tarzan-themed attraction on the island, but his plans quickly unraveled. Florida’s primate problem began in 1938 when a tour boat operator known as "Colonel Tooey" released six rhesus macaques onto a small island within what is now the state park.
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