Rescued Monkeys Are Extremely Curious About Cameras

The Akumal Monkey Sanctuary in Akumal, Mexico is a wonderful center that is run by a veterinarian and a team of very caring staff. They have become home to dozens of monkeys, snakes, parrots, ostriches, dogs and even zebras.

Government officials in Mexico have been cracking down on illegal pet trade as well as the use of animals in neglectful or abusive situations. When animals are seized, they turn to sanctuaries such as this one to care for the animals. While the ideal solution is to rehabilitate animals to be released into the wild, it is not always possible. Animals that have become dependent on humans for food, or ones that have become so used to humans that they seek out human contact, can never be fully free.

The Akumal Monkey Sanctuary provides proper care and appropriate habitats for animals that have been brought in from all kinds of situations. Animals are closely supervised and slowly introduced into proper social conditions with others of their kind. They are given proper stimuli and reassuring surroundings in order to discourage harmful or stressful behaviors.

The sanctuary is expanding as the need for their expertise increases. They are being called upon to care for more animals every week. Tours of the facility are conducted daily to educate the public about the animals, their plight, the ongoing need for prevention of the illegal pet trade, and to raise funds to care for the animals support their efforts.

These Lion Tamarins are well accustomed to humans and they react with extreme curiosity as people walk past their enclosure. Some of them will go to a small, fenced opening where guests and monkeys can closely observe each other. When one of the guests held up a GoPro camera to record the adorable little creatures, they reached through the fence to explore the camera with their tiny hands and mouths.

These monkeys are similar in intelligence and problem solving skills to a human approximately 3-5 years of age. Highly trainable and eager to please, they are mistakenly believed to be appropriate pets. For this reason, they are taken from the wild and bred by the unscrupulous for the pet trade.

Under ideal circumstances, these animals would be released to live as wild animals, but these monkeys will spend the rest of their days at this haven.

Lion Tamarins are critically endangered and it is thought that their are a mere 1,000 of them in the wild.