spider monkey monkeyland

A squirrel monkey at Monkeyland free-roaming primate sanctuary near Plettenberg Bay. Photo: Supplied

Vyjver Jonck in Plettenberg Bay: Happy 22nd birthday, Monkeyland!

Herewith the video of us singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and our team working during the lockdown.

spider monkey monkeyland

A squirrel monkey at Monkeyland free-roaming primate sanctuary near Plettenberg Bay. Photo: Supplied

The free-roaming primate sanctuary Monkeyland, situated a stone’s throw from Plettenberg Bay, celebrated it’s 22nd birthday yesterday [6 April] under lockdown. When it was established, it boasted being the world’s first free-roaming multi-species primate sanctuary.

Under lockdown, the sanctuary operates only with a core crew who sees to the feeding of the primates in the sanctuary. Yesterday, the crew built a fruit tower cake to celebrate its 22 years of being in operation.

The South African Animal Sanctuary Alliance group also includes Birds of Eden and the award-winning Jukani Wildlife Sanctuary, with its latest addition, Monkeyland-KZN, in Ballito, having opened its doors in April 2019.

At 23ha, Monkeyland-KZN is the largest free-roaming multi-species primate sanctuary in Africa.

The main mission at Monkeyland is to educate and foster a greater understanding of primates, as well as the threats and challenges they are facing. 

And a lockdown plea from us: If there are anybody who has any birds or monkeys as pets in captivity and who would like to re-home them at Birds of Eden or Monkeyland, please get hold of Lara Mostert on 082-979-5683.

Some fun facts about the squirrel monkey in this post’s feature picture:

  1. The long tail of squirrel monkeys is not prehensile, but it provides balance when they move through the treetops. Squirrel monkeys are arboreal (they live on the trees) animals. They spend 99% of their lives in the trees.
  2. Squirrel monkeys are considered to be one of the cleverest monkeys due to having a large brain compared to the size of their body.
  3. They are highly vocal and have around 25-30 different types of call.
  4. These groups consist of both male and females and can range in numbers anywhere between 25 and 500! The only time the group splits up is when they’re hunting for food.
  5. Squirrel monkeys wee on their hands. It is a way of marking territory. It also helps control their body temperature, plus it forms part of their self-cleaning ritual…
  6. Squirrel monkeys get their name from their behaviour. They’re arboreal animals, meaning that they live in trees and spend most of their time hopping between branches. They’re also small, quick and nimble, so it’s probably inevitable that they were nicknamed after squirrels. However, it should be noted that it’s only a nickname. Squirrel monkeys aren’t actually related to squirrels. In fact, their scientific name has nothing to do with squirrels at all; it translates to “small monkey” in a native South American tongue.
  7. Squirrel monkeys were named for their tree-hugging habits in the same way that spider monkeys were named for their long, spider-like fingers.

Monkeyland “Staying Safe” during lockdown! Visit The South African’s YouTube channel for more “Monkeyland under lockdown” videos.