Mona Monkey

The Mona Monkey is an Old World monkey that lives in western Africa between Ghana and Cameroon. The Mona Monkey can also be found on the island of Grenada, which is where we observed it, as it was transported to the island aboard slave ships headed to the New World during the 18th century.

This monkey lives in groups of up to thirty-five in forests. It mainly feeds on fruit, but sometimes eats insects and leaves.

Our guide in Grenada took us up into the mountainous region where upon locating the monkeys handed Marilyn a banana. It was pretty obvious that this was a regular occurrence. However, as the monkeys approached, Marilyn raised the banana up over her head and much to her dismay, ended up nose to nose with a Mona Monkey on her chest.

We’ve been lucky to observe several species of monkeys in our travels, especially Costa Rica, and they will be subjects of future blogs.