Florida man spots monkey along St. Johns River in Volusia County

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Published  December 11, 2024 9:27pm EST
FOX 35 Orlando
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Florida man spots monkey along St. Johns River

Tour boat captain Colin Innes said he saw a monkey along the St. Johns River. He said the first thing he did was pull out his phone and start recording. Innes captured the monkey on video moving through the trees. Wildlife experts said it seemed to be a rhesus macaque.

The Brief

    • A tour boat captain in Orange City, Florida, spotted a monkey swinging through the trees along the St. Johns River. 
    • The monkey, believed to be a rhesus macaque, surprised the captain and other local residents. 
    • Wildlife experts advise against approaching the monkey and recommend contacting the Florida Wildlife Commission to report the sighting.

DEBARY, Fla. - Tour boat captain Colin Innes said he saw a monkey along the St. Johns River. He said the first thing he did was pull out his phone and start recording. 

Innes captured the monkey on video moving through the trees. Wildlife experts said it seemed to be a rhesus macaque. Innes, who runs St. Johns River Eco Tours, said when he went out on the river, he wasn't expecting any monkey business. 

"Something moving. Looked over. Kind of said, no, that can't be what I think I'm seeing."

Innes said the monkey sighting took him by surprise. "It caught me completely off guard, not something you see in Orange City every day."

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Innes decided to hang back and follow the monkey as it swung through the branches. 

"Ended up following him for about half an hour and just taking as much video and pictures as I could because that's not something you see around here very often," he said. 

Innes also called the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and reported the animal.

Isaac Rempe, with Affordable Wildlife Removal, said if you see an exotic primate like that, don't try to monkey around. 

"The best and most important thing to do when you see a wild monkey is call FWC, make a report and leave the monkey alone. Do not attempt to capture it on your own. There are several reasons behind that. Monkeys are extremely intelligent," he said, "they have big teeth! It's not something you want to try to capture, you'll get hurt."

Rempe said primates also carry dangerous parasites and diseases. He said there had been longstanding colonies of rhesus macaques in parts of Florida like Silver Springs, which humans introduced there. 

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"We've seen a lot of monkeys in Debary and throughout the Saint Johns River basin. Some of these monkeys have come from Silver Springs while others have just been escaped pets from over the years."

FWC said anyone who spotted a monkey in the wild in Florida should call them and report it.

The Source: Images of the monkey were provided by Colin Innes, who runs St. Johns River Eco Tours. Additional information about the rhesus macaque came from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.