22 Apr 2015

Some say they are a nuisance when living within a society while others maintain that they are central to the aesthetic appeal of a locality. 

Some pundits feel monkeys are a menace as they scare them with their ferocious fuming look although their body frame is just too petite to intimidate a human being.  They sometime snatch food from people’s hands especially the women who would rush to avoid confrontation with the closest species to their ilk. 

This is a living reality at the Mass Media complex which houses the national television station, two national radio stations, the largest national newspaper by print run and the most popular monthly magazine locally. 

Male employees at this news hub feel that monkeys are beautiful as they entertain with their humorous tricks particularly when they perceive that someone is giving them attention.

They assert that monkeys relieve stress with their antique style of behaviour which they seldom display if not given attention.

“These tiny little creatures are born comedians and should they have been given vocals, they would far much surpass most local comedians,” noted one journalist at the Mass Media. 

Conspicuous for their notoriety though, they are fond of climbing on the roofs of staff vehicles in the parking lot and leave disturbing scratches akin to that of a vehicle at the conclusion of a the popular Desert race. 

Among other notorious acts, they are accused of shifting the outside mirrors after fiddling with screen wipers. Monkeys feed on everything edible and unlike baboons they feed at the same time with their young ones.

It is believed that when baboons are sceptical that the food stuff they were carrying might be poisonous, they try it by feeding their young ones first and wait in observation for some few minutes.

While observing the reaction of their young ones, it is alleged that if the young baboon starts showing some signs of dizziness or dies, they do not feed on that food stuff. The monkey in question is the vervet monkeys. 

These creatures vary in color, but generally the body is a greenish olive or silvery grey.  Their faces, ears, hands, feet and the tip of the tail are seemingly black, but an obvious white band on the forehead blends in with the short whiskers.

Male monkeys are to some extent larger than the females and are easily recognised by their turquoise scrota. The vervet is classified as a medium to a large monkey. Its tail is held up, with the tip curving down; arms and legs are of the same length.

Monkeys inhabit the woodlands, savannah and high plains with their preferred environment being the acacia woodland along streams, rivers, dams and lakes. 

They peel bananas and do not eat banana skin. They are diurnal in nature, sleeping and eating in trees they seldom venture.  These creatures are omnivorous, they feed on leaves and young shoots are most important to their diet, but flowers, bark, fruits, bulbs, roots and grass roots are also eaten.

Monkey’s main vegetarian diet is usually supplemented with insects, eggs, baby birds and sometimes rodents and hares, they seldom drink water.

In most cases, monkeys swing on trees to stay away from predators, they do not like to be touched (unless instructed to do so by them) and one should not make direct eye contact for more than 4 seconds otherwise they respond ferociously.

It is interesting to learn that monkeys have an IQ of 175 and have no patience but love to be massaged: however, you are advised not rub them the wrong way as they can and will exhibit an outburst of sudden and deadly rage if provoked.

They are very dangerous and they could spend hours a day removing parasites and other materials from one another’s fur. On another note, monkeys have difficulty in breeding and they instead prefer masturbation in public. 

The many species of monkeys have varied relationship with humans as some are kept as pets and others are used as model organisms in laboratories or in space mission. 

The first monkey in space was Albert II who flew in the US-launched V-2 rocket in June 14, 1949. In most cases, monkeys are killed in monkey drives when they threaten agriculture.  In some areas, some species of monkey are considered agricultural pests and can cause extensive damage to commercial and subsistence crops.

But in most instances, farmer’s perceptions of the damage may exceed the actual damage that monkeys have done. Monkeys that have become habituated to human presence in tourist locations may be considered pests or attracting tourists. 

Human resource officer at the department of information services Ms Naomi Jotia attest that monkeys are unpredictable in nature as one would never know what they are up to.  She said sometimes they are just friendly and other times they become a nuisance and pose danger.

Recently, Ms Jotia was confronted and challenged by one monkey after entering Mass Media Complex to resume duty; she was holding and swinging an access card hanged on a string.

Ms Jotia said she tried to scare away the monkey by shouting the word fotsek as one would scare away dog but it kept on advancing. Unknown to her, other two monkeys joined the bout and grabbed her by the heel.

“This was a scary situation as I have never been so close to a monkey, let alone three marauding funny little creatures,” she said that she was terribly afraid as she never anticipated such an attack in her work place.

Ms Jotia also said that monkeys inhabiting the complex used to be friendly in the past but nowadays they are just raucous which might be as a result of the closure of the cafeteria which was their main supply of food. 

Another victim of monkey attack was information officer Mr Batlotleng Baleseng, he left the office windows wide open and the notorious vervet gained entry and laid their hands on the container of his packed lunch.

They devoured all the contents he had as packed lunch and Mr Baleseng had to fend for himself to make ends meet. ENDS