Visitors to Florida's picturesque Silver Springs state park have been warned that they may encounter an unusual threat: hundreds of wild, herpes-infected monkeys. Officials from Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) say the monkeys are likely an expansion of the rhesus macaque population that originated from Silver Springs State Park in Ocala, not far from Orlando. Silver Springs is one of Florida's oldest tourist attractions. The main spring is roughly 130 feet across and about 35′ deep at the entrance. Silver Springs River: Monkeys!! It was founded in 1852. Visitors to Florida's picturesque Silver Springs state park have been warned that they may encounter an unusual threat: hundreds of wild, herpes-infected monkeys. Crab Eating Macaques. Credit: Aaron Mencia. He thought the monkeys . 4. There's a special trail for equestrians, too. Apparently, there are thriving wild communities of monkeys living in Florida. However, most experts agree the operator of Silver Springs' Jungle Cruise put them on a small island in the Silver River in the 1930s to spice up the ride for tourists. Where are the monkeys in Silver Springs Florida? In the Florida Keys, research monkeys ravaged 30 acres of mangroves. This was one of my favorite days while visiting Florida. This is Florida, after all. Unfortunately, at that time, the then-Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission insisted on the removal of large numbers of monkeys. Rhesus macaques have inhabited Silver Springs State Park in Ocala, FL for more than 75 years. It's said these monkeys have been around since the 1930's after escaping an island on the Silver River. Rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta; Figure 1) were introduced into what is today Silver Springs State Park (SSSP) in the mid-1930s.Local folklore suggests the monkeys were released while the 1939 movie "Tarzan Finds a Son" was filmed at the site. After finding many monkey trees on the side of the river, he drew attention to multiple macaques in the trees. Close . In the 1930s, the operator of the Silver Springs Jungle Cruise put the monkeys on a small island in the river in order to spice up the ride for customers. Tooey's star attractions quickly hightailed it into Silver Springs State Park, where they established a troop that now numbers around 300 individuals. Explore Silver Springs State Park. Happy Monkday. Experience a Silver Springs Glass Bottom Boat tour. This is a community to discuss all things Florida! Troops of Silver Springs macaques have caused mischief outside the park as well. By the 1980's, there were nearly four hundred monkeys along the Silver River. kayak on the Silver River in Silver Springs State Park. But now the parcel of 5,000 acres of land is becoming infamously known for the potentially-dangerous Silver Springs monkeys. Florida considers them a non-native nuisance species, has sanctioned trapping & over 800 monkeys have been removed in recent years. The last time our guide was out with a group, he said he saw about 30. Silver Springs, a state park, is the main 1st magnitude spring and source of flow to the Silver River, discharging over 500 million gallons of water a day! While there are no official statistics on monkey attacks on humans in the park, a state-sponsored study in the 1990s found 31 . Dozens of females were also sterilized. Park Hours: 8:00 am to Sunset. Either way, one day we will go back and visit, so I can see these monkeys. silver springs, florida monkeys. Based on our review, there have been at least 5 introduced squirrel monkey populations in Florida (Fig. "Herpes-Carrying Monkeys Brought to Florida for Tourism May Multiply out of Control." Carlos E. Medina and Ryan W. Miller, USA TODAY, February 24, 2020. Even before the pioneer settlers came to the area, the Timucuan Indians were living in the area they called Ocali, and enjoying the pure clear artesian waters of the springs.. Silver Springs State Park is a beautiful place to kayak over crystal clear spring waters while viewing wild monkeys frolicking among the trees that line the river banks. Officials say they'll be removed. History Of The Monkey In Silver Springs State Park. Silver Springs became a tourist attraction in the 1870s. Monkey's in Silver Springs, FL. Pinterest 0 . The digitized records on Florida Memory come from the collections of the State Archives of Florida and the special collections of the State Library of Florida. One large group of rhesus monkeys recently raided a deer-feeder behind a house in Ocala—and yes, there are . . During the period from 1984 to 2012, nearly 1,000 monkeys were trapped and removed, with the majority of them being sold for biomedical research in order to reduce population growth. Open 7 days a week, year-round, including all holidays. Silver Springs State Park is located in North Central Florida, just east of Ocala. At the time Linda began her studies, there were perhaps 300 monkeys living near the Silver Springs and another 250 or so divided among two or three troops in the Ocala National Forest. As rumor has it, some of the monkeys that were in the movie escaped their cages and were never hunted down. Tourists love snapping pictures of the monkeys in Silver River State Park. At first, there are no warning symptoms. Monkeys arrived in 1973 and the population was mostly free-ranging, not caged, peaking at 6,000 in 1983, according to reports. Facebook 0. Their numbers have soared since then, and experts predict there could be 400 roaming the park by 2022. If you kayak from Silver Springs, down to Ray's Landing (our take out point for BK Adventure Kayaking Tours) you should be able to see at least one or two families of monkeys along the way. TIL Herpes-Ridden Rhesus Monkeys Are Running Amok in Silver Springs Florida. The monkeys are cute and popular with tourists. Less frequently seen are coyote, bobcat and Florida black bear. Monkeys Goin' Home (right) on SR 40 and go 9 miles to the Silver Sprin Attractions: Silver Springs Park For the past 30 years there has been discussion about removing the monkeys since they are not native to Florida, but due to their popularity the Squirrel, monkeys. Bird life is plentiful! The park has long been known as a tourist attraction in north-central Florida for its glass-bottom boat tours of one of the largest artesian springs in the world. Rod Guynn said he was kayaking on the Silver River in . Six were released in the 30s by a glass bottom boat tour guide for a tourist attraction, . Today, around 175 of these monkeys roam Silver Springs State Park, but they've spread elsewhere, roaming as far as the Ocala, Sarasota, and Tallahassee regions. However, macaques were present in Silver Springs prior to filming, and no rhesus macaques appear in this film. Silver Springs is the home to a significant population of limpkin, and many other aquatic and woodland birds. The primates are not native to the sunshine state's Silver Springs State Park, but were introduced to the area by a wily tour guide, named Colonel Tooey, in the 1930s. However, macaques were present in Silver Springs prior to filming, and no rhesus macaques appear in this film. At the Silver Springs headwaters, you can find a number of attractions, including the famous glass-bottomed boat rides. Back in the 1930's and 40's the 'Tarzan" movie series was being filmed along Silver Springs. Monkeys In Florida! History. Unfortunately, beginning in 1984, the then-Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission insisted upon the removal of large numbers of the monkeys. Today, there are hundreds of monkeys in the forest surrounding the Silver River. 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