WEBSTER, Fla. – A vervet monkey escaped from a sanctuary in Sumter County about a month ago and has been sighted in Clermont, according to the sanctuary’s founder.
Founder Nina Vassallo told WKMG in Orlando that the monkey, named Zulu, manipulated the lock on his enclosure at the Chase Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservancy in Webster and fled about four weeks ago. At the time, sanctuary officials notified the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the Webster community that he was missing.
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“But I guess Zulu wanted more freedom!” Vassallo said on Monday.
Vassallo says Zulu possibly came from a wild vervet monkey troop in South Florida. She says a broker tried to breed him to a female, but the female wouldn’t breed. The sanctuary got both monkeys and kept them in a large enclosure at the sanctuary.
Vassallo says depending on food sources, Zulu could travel a few miles a day. They believe Zulu has already covered about 30 miles around the sanctuary and could travel further. Vassallo says every time they get word of a Zulu sighting, he is gone before they get there.
Zulu is different from another monkey on the loose in the Groveland area. Vassallo says the other monkey is believed to be a rhesus macaque that likely came from the colony at Silver Springs in Marion County.
No one knows what lurks in the mind of a monkey, but Vassallo suggests Zulu may be trying to go home.
“Maybe trying to get back to the wild troop (near Fort Lauderdale),” she said. “We just don’t know.”
Vervet monkeys were brought to Dania Beach from Africa in the 1940s as part of a research facility and escaped their enclosures. They are a smaller population compared to the rhesus macaques in the state.
According to the University of Florida, a 2020 census found about 40 vervet monkeys in the Dania Beach colony. UF researchers say they are monitoring the population, but so far there have been no negative impacts from the Florida population.
The biggest concern is that someone may try to catch Zulu and keep him as a pet or sell him to a broker.
Less of a concern is getting herpes from Zulu, according to Vassallo.
“Just don’t kiss the monkeys!” Vassallo said.
Anyone who sees Zulu is asked to text Vassallo at 352-988-9011.
If you see the rhesus macaque that is on the loose, call the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.