Monkey Jungle is a family owned and operated wildlife park founded in 1933 by Joseph and Grace DuMond. It was Joe's dream as a young man to establish North America's first colony of free-ranging monkeys so that he and other researchers could study primate behavior and ecology as it
occurs in the wild. While the DuMond family still lived in Connecticut, Joe and Grace purchased a few monkeys, let them roam in and out of their house at will, and found that the monkeys always returned home. They concluded from this observation that the monkeys are territorial and
would probably colonize the right environment. After reading about South Florida, the DuMonds purchased 10 acres of Florida hardwood hammock because its climate and ecology were so similar to the monkeys' home in Southeast Asia. The family built a small wood frame house for themselves and released six Crabeating Macaques into the forest to begin Joe's project. During these depression years funding for DuMonds scientific studies were scarce, so in 1935 he began charging 10 cents admission to curious visitors, who had heard stories of the wild monkeys. Originally there were no screened walkways separating the public and the monkeys.

However, the Java monkeys, territorial by nature, viewed the public's presence as an intrusion and aggressively defended their jungle homes against the human intruders. Joe DuMond couldn't cage his wild monkeys so he caged his visitors instead.

When Joe DuMond retired in 1955, his son, Frank, became director. Under his directorship the park was expanded and new scientific programs were developed. In 1960, Frank opened the four acre Amazonian Rainforest which featured Upper Amazonian monkeys living in a forest of native
South American plants. This unique display habitat resulted in a true living museum and laboratory of that highly valued and threatened ecosystem. The Monkey Jungle Rainforest serves as an excellent breeding sanctuary for South American primates and many "first-in-captivity" births have occurred here. New concepts in primate behavior and ecology have been developed through work by Frank DuMond and other scientists at Monkey Jungle. In fact, the research which defined aspects of squirrel monkey reproduction is considered to be one of the classic works in primatology.

In August, 1992, Hurricane Andrew destroyed all of our vegetation, including the Rainforest. We are now in the process of rebuilding and hope to open our Rainforest shortly, although it may well be years before it regains its splendor.

Since primates are becoming increasingly scarce in the wild, Monkey Jungle devotes considerable effort to breeding them. One important program concerns the Golden Lion Tamarin. This is one of the world's rarest primates, as less than 500 exist in the wild. Frank Dumont helped outline a breeding program for this delicate monkey which defined the dietary, environmental, and social requirements of the animal. The Monkey Jungle is a participant in the international collaborative
breeding program which has begun to reintroduce captive born animals into protected habitats in the wild. A female born at Monkey Jungle was released into the wild in 1985.

Many of our visitors have expressed an interest in helping us with our programs. If you wish to participate in a volunteer program, please contact us.

Monkey Jungle
14805 S.W. 216 Street
Miami, FL 33170
(305) 235-1611

Monkey Jungle is a primate "biopark" a place where monkeys and apes thrive; where conservationists study, train and conduct projects; and where you, our guests learn, explore and have fun. The vast majority of Monkey Jungle's inhabitants live free in their jungle habitats - you
move through the habitats via screened walkways. Be sure to look up and all around when exploring because you never know who's hanging around. We suggest you plan to attend our four shows, which cycle continuously throughout the day as outlined below. Our guides love to answer
questions so feel free to ask them before or after a show or at any other time during your visit to Monkey Jungle.

Show Schedule

There are four different shows which cycle throughout the day at 30
minute intervals starting at 10:00 a.m. The shows are:

(1) WILD MONKEY SWIMMING POOL
See Monkeys wade into the pool for "Treats" and, if you are lucky, see
them skin dive.
10:30 1:00 3:00

(2) HANGING' WITH ORANGS
Meet our Orangutan family introducing Lucy, Mei & Rei. Watch and listen
as our ape trainer takes you through a training session.
10:30 1:00 3:00

(3) APE ENCOUNTER
Enjoy the antics and, always unpredictable, behavior of the Jungle's
twin 7 year old chimpanzees, Colin and Colleen. Discover the amazing
intelligence of the gentle giant, "King", our lowland Gorilla.
11:00 2:00 3:30

*AMAZONIAN RAINFOREST FEEDING
11:30 2:00 4:00

Copyright 1994 Monkeyzone.com All rights reserved.  We or our content providers own all of the content on our website, including text, customized graphics, photographs, data, images, audio, video clips and software