Heads up, Lake County residents: It seems there’s more than one monkey making moves in your area.
Reports have surfaced that a vervet monkey made a daring escape from a sanctuary in Sumter County about a month ago and has since been spotted in Clermont, as confirmed by the sanctuary’s founder.
Nina Vassallo, the sanctuary’s founder, revealed that the monkey, known as Zulu, managed to unlock his enclosure at the Chase Sanctuary and Wildlife Conservancy in Webster and made a break for it approximately four weeks ago. Despite efforts to locate him, including alerts to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and the local community, Zulu remains at large.
Vassallo suspects that Zulu might have originated from a wild vervet monkey troop in South Florida. Apparently, an attempt was made to breed Zulu with a female, but it proved unsuccessful. The sanctuary ended up taking in both monkeys and housing them in a spacious enclosure.
Given Zulu’s natural instincts and the availability of food sources, Vassallo believes he could be covering several miles a day. Alleged sightings of Zulu have placed him roughly 30 miles from the sanctuary, with the possibility of him venturing even further. Unfortunately, each time sanctuary staff rush to investigate a sighting, Zulu has already vanished.
Zulu isn’t the only monkey causing a stir in the area. Another monkey, suspected to be a rhesus macaque from the Silver Springs colony in Marion County, was reported loose in the Groveland area last week.
As for Zulu’s motivations, Vassallo speculates that he might be attempting to return to his wild troop near Fort Lauderdale, though nothing is certain.
While vervet monkeys like Zulu pose a relatively low risk of transmitting diseases like herpes to humans, Vassallo emphasizes the importance of refraining from close contact with them.
“Better safe than sorry,” she advises.
