Free-roaming monkeys seen in Florida cities spark police alert

Florida police are advising Orange City residents to avoid monkey sightings in the community this week.

On Monday, the Orange City Police Department posted photos of a loose monkey on its social media pages, showing the out-of-place primate running along a fence.

Police advised residents of Orange City, a city about 30 miles north of Orlando, not to feed or approach monkeys and to contact the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) if they are spotted.

Orange City police did not respond to a request for comment on the monkeys’ current condition. However, the Daytona Beach News-Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported Tuesday that there have been numerous monkey sightings not only in Orange City, but also in the nearby Volusia County communities of Deltona and DeBary.

Police have not speculated where the monkeys came from.

Monkeys discovered roaming communities in Florida

According to the Daytona Beach News-Journal, reports of monkey sightings in the area began in early December.

In a Dec. 5 video posted to Facebook by St. Johns River Eco Tours, a tour boat company in DeBary, a monkey hops from branch to branch between trees near the river.

More:Orange City police are warning residents about roaming monkeys after “multiple” sightings

Recent monkey outbreaks

Last month, 43 rhesus macaques, described as “very young females weighing about 6 to 7 pounds,” escaped from Alpha Genesis, a primate research facility in Yemassee, a small town about 60 miles west of Charleston, South Carolina

On Dec. 9, the Beaufort County Post and Courier reported that four of those monkeys still had not been caught and were at large.

The Daytona Beach News-Journal also reported that Orange City faced a similar escaped monkey situation last year.

“Don’t feed it. Don’t pet it. It is not an average animal in the zoo,” Orange City Police Lt. Sherif El-Shami said in August 2023.

Are monkeys dangerous?

Both law enforcement and the FWC encourage residents to avoid monkeys they see out and about.

In addition to potential injuries from an attack, the agency also warns residents that these animals are “proven carriers of various diseases,” according to a 2018 FWC announcement banning feeding wild monkeys.

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