Wild rhesus macaque monkey spotted at the Ocala Boat Basin

The rhesus monkeys come from six macaques released in the 1930s by Colonel Tooey, who operated a glass-bottomed boat tour of the Silver River. Tooey released the monkeys onto an island, hoping to get more riders on his glass-bottomed boat tours, who would then see them swinging up in the trees. What he apparently did not know is that rhesus macaques are strong swimmers and the monkeys swam away from the island and took up residence in the forest surrounding the river. Rhesus macaques are native to India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Myanmar, Thailand, Afghanistan, Vietnam and southern China. The monkeys can sometimes be aggressive towards people and other animals and many of them carry the dangerous herpes B virus, which can be fatal to humans, especially if you get bitten. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2024.