MONKEYS AND HUMANS: HANUMAN, PETS, TEMPLES, COCONUTS AND CLONED EMBRYOS

MONKEYS AND HUMANS

Hanuman hug Monkeys are considered reincarnations of the Hindu god Hanuman so Hindus lavish with them with food and offerings and build temples to honor monkeys and Hanuman. Many Buddhists recognize Hindu deities and thus also hold monkeys in high regard. Hindus and Buddhist cherish all living creatures and are reluctant to do any creature any harm.

Monkeys are kept as pets and trained to do tricks by street performers. At one time monkey sold for as little as $2 a piece. Often monkeys that have become too big are released by the owners. In many cases they mate with local wild monkeys and produce hybrids and cross breeds.

Macaques have thrived in places where they places where they have artificially been introduced by humans. In 1763 a troop of M. sylvanus were released ub Germany where they flourished until they were deliberately exterminated in 1784. There is currently a large free-ranging troop of M. sylvanus in France. M. fascilarus was apparently brought to the Indian Ocean island of Mauritius by Dutch or Portuguese sailors in the 16th century. There are currently about 25,000 to 35,000 of the living on the 1,865 square kilometer island today. M. mulatta lives on Puerto Rico and an island near Rio de Janeiro. A colony of the same species has lived in central Florida since the 1930s when they were probably introduced as a tourist attraction. M. cyclopis has been introduced to the Izu islands south of Tokyo. M. nemestrina has been introduced to Singapore and the Natuna islands.

Primates have traditionally been hunted by humans in Asia for their flesh and the medicinal value of bezoar stones (rock-like objects found in the digestive systems of animals). In ancient times, people believed that bezoars had magical and medicinal properties — being antidotes for many things, including poisons, leprosy, measles, cholera, and depression.

Websites and Resources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; BBC Earth bbcearth.com; A-Z-Animals.com a-z-animals.com; Live Science Animals livescience.com; Animal Info animalinfo.org ; World Wildlife Fund (WWF) worldwildlife.org the world’s largest independent conservation body; National Geographic National Geographic ; Endangered Animals (IUCN Red List of Threatened Species) iucnredlist.org

Hanuman, the Hindu Monkey God

Hanuman, the monkey god and general, is a helper of Rama and popular in villages and rural India. Regarded as brave and loyal, he is worshiped as a symbol of strength and intelligence. He was once associated mostly with Sri Lanka but now is revered all over India as well as in Southeast Asia. Images of Hanuman are often placed at the entrances of temples because of his reputation for fiercely defending his territory against invaders.

Hanuman is said to be the son of the wind god Vayi and is well known for his ability to change his appearance. He is often depicted as a warrior hero dressed in armor and carrying a mace and/or a dagger, weapons he used to defeat the demon Ravana, and is frequently connected with Vishnu because of his connection with Rama, one of Vishnu’s incarnations.

Hanuman is particularly popular in northern India. In January 1997, when a balloon carrying the adventurer Steve Fosset landed near the northern Indian village of Ninkhar, local people thought the balloon was Hanuman’s floating temple cart. Monkeys are given special respect by Hindus and allow to roam around temples because of their connection with Hanuman. One famous temple in Thailand hosts a huge banquet for monkeys in part to win the approval of Hanuman.

Temple Monkeys

Some temples in Asia are occupied by troops of monkeys. Monkeys are often found in the tens of thousands of temples across India. They are seen as a symbol of Hanuman, the mythical monkey god, and devotees visiting temples often feed them. The number of pilgrims visiting monkey temples near national parks have been reduced to twice a week to help protect animals.

The Monkey Temple, or Swayamblunath, in Kathmandu is home to brown and pink faced monkeys who some say have occupied the site for 2000 years. The first monkeys that showed up after the temple was built are believed to have arrived from the forest to eat offering left for the gods. With the forest all gone the monkeys rarely venture more than a half mile from the temple and eat offerings of rice, pumpkin and peanuts left for them became they are now considered sacred animals.

The monkey population is divided into several troupes. The troops are led by dominant males. They definitely have the run of the temple and the area. They have been known to take candy from children and climb through the windows of nearby guesthouses and steal valuables. Usually the dominate male does the dirty work while the rest of his clan sit and watch. There aren't dangerous or anything, just sneaky.

Monkey Temple and Festival in Lop Buri, Thailand

Lop Buri (90 miles north of Bangkok) is an ancient city and home to Pra Prang Sam Yod ("Pagoda with Three Sacred Temples"), which is famous for its large population of pesky monkeys, most of which are a species of macaque called the long-tailed, or cynomolgus, monkey. Many are also rhesus monkey hybrids, which are the result of unions between local monkeys and pet monkeys that have been released after they became to big.

Long-tailed macaques that live atop of Wat Prang Sam Top in Lopburi descend from the temple at dawn ro search for food and antics. They fan out in road, causing drivers to swerve and slam on their brakes to avoid hitting them. Some venture into shops and hotels and swing on power lines and have to be shooed away. Occasionally they steal purses and attack people passing by. On a stretch of sidewalk where cycle drivers hang out a meal of fruit and vegetables is left out by an elderly woman. They monkeys squeal and howl and fight for the choicest pieces when the food basket is left out for them.

In November, Prang Sam Yoy and Phra Kan Shrines in Lop Buri Wat host a Chinese Banquet for Monkeys, a delectable 10-course, Chinese-style vegetarian banquet enjoyed by 500 monkeys at. Originally sponsored in 1989 by a rich hotel owner who believed that monkeys brought his family good luck, the event is staged at 10:00am, 12:00 noon and 2:00pm. Special gifts including mirrors and toys are presented to the monkeys. The food includes watermelons, pineapples, Thai fruits, corn on the cob and popular desserts and a giant cake. Monkeys are seen downing cans of Pepsi. The monkeys have lived in the Khmer temples of Lop Buri for generations, feasting off the daily offering of fruit left behind by Buddhist worshippers.

Coconut Monkeys

In some parts of Malaysia, pig-tailed macaques (a relatively russet, rain forest monkey native to Southeast Asia) have been trained to climb trees and pick coconuts for human masters. [Source: Randall Peffer, Smithsonian magazine]

Known locally as beroks, they can harvest 300 or 400 coconuts in a morning before they tire in the hot sun. They are connected to their human handlers by thin ropes or chains. The best monkeys can harvest 800 coconuts a day and clear a whole grove in a day by leaping 30 feet from tree to tree and tossing down coconuts like cluster bombs.

One handler told Smithsonian, "the big males are best for picking from tall trees, where the work is hard. But the males can be difficult to manage; they are strong and have large canines. Young beroks are easier to work with but are not always as productive."

Humans are sometimes faster than beroks on a single tree but monkeys have more endurance, they can sometimes leap from tree to tree, and they aren't bothered as much by stinging ants, scorpions and poisonous snakes that often inhabit the top of coconut palms.

Issues with Keeping Monkeys as Pets

Maryann Mott wrote in National Geographic: Thinking about acquiring a monkey to keep as an adorable pet? Think carefully. Thousands of nonhuman primates are hosted as companions in people's homes across the United States—relationships that often end in tears. As babies these big-eyed, furry creatures may seem harmless. But once they reach sexual maturity, experts warn, monkeys can become aggressive. And some primates harbor deadly diseases, like herpes B, that they can pass on to human primates via bites and scratches. [Source: Maryann Mott, National Geographic, September 17, 2003]

Many people remain undaunted by the risks of adopting primates in their homes. A quick Internet search reveals a thriving trade in just about every species of primate, from capuchins to chimpanzees. Prices range from U.S. $1,500 to $50,000. Even endangered species, like Diana monkeys, lemurs, and gibbons, are for sale. The Allied Effort to Save Other Primates, an international coalition of individuals and organizations dedicated to protecting monkeys and apes, estimates there are 15,000 primates kept as pets in the United States.No federal laws regulate private ownership, and only nine states ban individuals from owning nonhuman primates.

Veterinarian Kevin Wright of the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona says primates are highly intelligent, emotionally complex, and long-lived animals that need to be around their own kind in order to develop normally. "If you try to keep them as pets you're creating a mentally disturbed animal in 99.9 percent of the cases," said Wright, director of conservation, science and sanctuary at the zoo. "The animal will never be able to fit in any other home. Never learn how to get along with other monkeys. And, more often than not, will end up with a lot of behavioral traits that are self-destructive."

Today, monkeys offered for sale are surplus animals from zoos and laboratories or from breeders, says April Truitt, founder of The Primate Rescue Center in Kentucky. The babies are pulled from their mothers as early as three days old and given an inanimate object, such as a stuffed animal or blanket as a surrogate mother. Most of these young primates, say experts, develop aberrant behaviors such as rocking, self-grasping, and digit sucking. Once monkeys reach sexual maturity they can become dangerous, says Wright, of the Phoenix Zoo. Smaller monkeys become sexually mature around 18 to 24 months. Larger primates, like orangutans and chimps, reach puberty between five and ten years of age.

Qalanders: the Caste of Dancing Bear and Monkey Handlers

The Qalanders are itinerant people who travel from village to villager with performing animals. Found throughout South Asia, particularly in northern India and Pakistan, they do rope climbing, magic tricks, puppetry, tightrope walking, music and tricks with trained animals. [Source: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures: South Asia”, edited by Paul Hockings (C.K. Hall & Company]

There are several tens of thousands Qalanders. They share a number of characteristics with the Roma (Gypsies): a similar language and similar nomadic habits. The Qalanders are very good with languages. Many of them can speak five or more languages. They are mostly illiterate. Their nomadic lifestyle precludes attending schools. The Qalanders have a very long history. Entertainers with bears and monkeys are mentioned in texts from the Vedic era (1000 to 700 B.C.) They are also mentioned in many old folk tales and histories.

One survey in the mid 1980s found hat 15 percent of Qalander families owned bears. Audiences like the bear routine because they are interesting and carry an element of danger and they often earn the most money. The wars in Afghanistan and Kashmir have made obtaining bears difficult and many bear handling families have turned to rhesus monkeys (macaques). [Source: “Encyclopedia of World Cultures: South Asia”, edited by Paul Hockings (C.K. Hall & Company]

Monkeys have traditionally been obtained from hill tribes and taught to imitate human situations such as feuding lovers, police and soldiers and trained to ride bicycles, dance and walk on tight ropes. Monkeys are less expensive to maintain and breed better in captivity than bears. Qalanders also train goats and dogs to do balancing acts.

Jakarta Clamps Down on Roadside Monkey Shows

In October 2013, the Jakarta Gov. Joko Widodo, better known as “Jokowi,” said he wanted all roadside monkey performances — known here as topeng monyet — to the end of 2014. He said that besides improving public order and stopping animal abuse, the move is aimed at preventing diseases carried by the monkeys. Associated Press reported: The city government said it would buy back all monkeys used as street buskers for about $90 and shelter them at a one-hectare (2.5-acre) preserve at Jakarta’s Ragunan Zoo. The handlers and caretakers will be provided vocational training to help find new jobs. [Source: Associated Press, October 27, 2013]

“Animal rights groups have long campaigned for a ban on the shows, which often involve monkeys wearing plastic baby doll heads on their faces. They say the monkeys are hung from chains for long periods to train them to walk on their hind legs like humans. Their teeth are pulled so they can’t bite, and they are tortured to remain obedient. The monkeys are often outfitted in dresses and cowboy hats and forced to carry parasols or ride tiny bikes.

“Femke den Haas of the Jakarta Animal Aid Network welcomed the decision, saying at least 22 monkeys have been rescued since the sweep began last week and quarantined for health issues. She estimated about 350 animals work as street performers in Jakarta, adding they are no longer able to live with other primates in zoos and cannot defend themselves in the wild. In 2011, backed by the city administration, the group rescued 40 monkeys used in shows, which are often performed when traffic is backed up at Jakarta’s notoriously congested intersections. Many suffered illnesses, including tuberculosis and hepatitis.

“Many of the macaques are trained at a slum area in eastern Jakarta, known locally as “monkey village.” A trained macaque can be sold for up to $135. Sarinah, 37, who owns 13 monkeys used in the daily street shows, said the ban has hurt her livelihood. Seven of her macaques have been confiscated in recent raids. “Of course I’m disappointed ... but I cannot do anything!” said Sarinah, a mother of three who uses a single name like many Indonesians. “She said she takes good care of the animals and loves them like her own children. “They are the source of our life, how could we be cruel to them? No way,” she said, adding that she earns about $3 daily from each monkey rented out to handlers. She said she will keep her remaining monkeys hidden while waiting for a new job. The mayor of Bandung, the provincial capital of West Java, has announced plans to ban monkey shows there as well.

Monkey Mind Control -- a Breakthrough for Paralysis?

Sam, the rhesus monkey astronaut

In October 2011, Reuters reported: “Scientists believe they are a step closer to enabling paralyzed people to walk and use artificial arms after an experiment in which monkeys moved and sensed objects using only their minds. The monkeys were able to operate a virtual arm to search for objects through brain activity that was picked up by implants -- a so-called brain-machine interface. [Source: Tatiana Ramil, Reuters, October 5, 2011]

In a leap forward from previous studies, the primates were also able to experience the sense of touch -- a crucial element of any solution for paralyzed people because it enables them to judge the strength used to grasp and control objects. "This was one of the most difficult steps and the fact that we achieved it opens the door to the dream of a person being able to walk again," Miguel Nicolelis, a Brazilian neuroscientist who took part in the study carried out by a team at Duke University in North Carolina.

The results suggest it would be possible to create a kind of robotic "exoskeleton" that people could use to feel and sense objects, he said. "The success we've had with primates makes us believe that humans could perform the same tasks much more easily in the future," Nicolelis said. The study was published in the journal Nature.

In the first part of the experiment, the rhesus monkeys were rewarded with food for using their hands to control a joystick in search of objects on a computer screen. The joystick was then disconnected, leaving the monkeys to control the movement of a virtual arm on the screen through brain power alone.

Monkey Embryos Cloned for Stem Cells

In November 2007, Rick Weiss wrote in the Washington Post: “Researchers in Oregon reported that they had created the world's first fully formed, cloned monkey embryos and harvested batches of stem cells from them -- a feat that, if replicated in people, could allow production of replacement tissues or organs with no risk of rejection. Successful creation of the cloned embryos, each from a single monkey skin cell, effectively settles a long-standing scientific debate about whether primates -- the taxonomic grouping that includes monkeys and people -- are biologically incapable of being cloned, as some had come to believe after years of failures. [Source: Rick Weiss, Washington Post, November 15, 2007]

The Oregon researchers did not transfer the embryos to female monkeys' wombs to grow into full-blown clones, as has been done with several other species. The scientists destroyed them to retrieve the embryonic stem cells growing inside. Those cells can morph into every kind of cell and tissue in the body, and the Oregon team has already coaxed theirs to become monkey nerves and heart cells that spontaneously beat in unison in a lab dish. Because the stem cells were grown from cloned embryos, those cells are genetically matched to the monkey that donated the initial skin cells. That means that any tissues or organs grown from them could be transplanted into that monkey without the need for immune-suppressing drugs.

"We only work with monkeys," said Shoukhrat Mitalipov, who led the research at the Oregon National Primate Research Center in Beaverton. "But we hope the technology we developed will be useful for other laboratories working on human subjects."

The Oregon team used electrical shocks to fuse skin cells from a 9-year-old rhesus macaque with monkey egg cells whose own DNA had been removed. Perhaps accounting for their ultimate success, the team used a new DNA-removal technique that did not involve the chemical dye usually used to help scientists see the genetic material. They had concluded that the dye was harming the fragile eggs. As is always the case with cloning, fluids in the eggs "reprogrammed" the skin cells' DNA so that the newly fused entities began to divide and grow into embryos.

Of 304 efforts, 213 resulted in embryos, of which 35 grew into 5-day-old blastocysts, the stage when stem cells appear. The team fished for stem cells from 20 of those and succeeded in two, for an overall efficiency about the same as is seen with mouse cloning today. Both of those colonies are growing well in lab dishes, Mitalipov said, but one is genetically abnormal. The other is healthy.

Mixed-Embryo Monkeys

In January 2012, AFP reported: Researchers at the Oregon National Primate Research Center at Oregon Health and Science University said they have created the world's first mixed-embryo monkeys by merging cells from up to six different embryos, in what could be a big advance for medical research. Until now, rodents have been the primary creatures used to make chimeras, a lab animal produced by combining two or more fertilized eggs or early embryos together. [Source: AFP, June 5, 5, 2012]

Attempts to create melded primates have failed in the past, but the scientists in Oregon succeeded by altering the method used to make mice. The breakthrough came when they mixed cells together from very early stage rhesus monkey embryos, in a state known as totipotent, when they are able to give rise to a whole animal as well as the placenta and other life-sustaining tissues. Scientists have log been able make "knock-out" mice by introducing embryonic stem cells that have been cultured in a lab dish into a mouse embryo, but that method failed in monkeys. Primate embryos do not allow cultured embryonic stem cells to become integrated, as mice do.

Combining primate cells apparently requires more potent, early stage cells from a living embryo, said lead researcher Shoukhrat Mitalipov of the Oregon National Primate Research Center. The experiment produced three healthy male rhesus monkeys they named Roku, Hex and Chimero, with gene traits from all of the separate embryos used to meld them. "The cells never fuse, but they stay together and work together to form tissues and organs," said Mitalipov. "The possibilities for science are enormous." The research was first published online ahead of the release of the January 20, 2012 issue of the journal Cell.

"We cannot model everything in the mouse," Mitalipov said. "If we want to move stem cell therapies from the lab to clinics and from the mouse to humans, we need to understand what these primate cells can and can't do." Researchers at the same Oregon facility in 2000 created the first genetically modified monkey, ANDi, who was carrying an extra bit of DNA that was inserted while he was an unfertilized egg. That experiment was described in Science in 2001.

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Text Sources: Animal Diversity Web animaldiversity.org ; National Geographic, Live Science, Natural History magazine, David Attenborough books, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Smithsonian magazine, Discover magazine, The New Yorker, Time, Reuters, Associated Press, AFP, Lonely Planet Guides, Wikipedia, The Guardian, Top Secret Animal Attack Files website and various books and other publications.

Last updated December 2024