Do Monkeys Make Good Pets?
or Sell Your Half-Cousin.
A Question of Lineage – How Ape-like are Humans
Before posing that question, it might be better to consider what a monkey is.
A monkey is a primate. All primates have evolved from forest-dwelling ancestors, and all but a few species are still, at least partly, arboreal. Primates include two basic groups: prosimians and anthropoids (simians).
Prosimians include lemurs, loris and tarsiers. Simians include the monkeys and the apes (of which humans are one).
With the exception of humans, primates live in tropical or subtropical regions of Earth.
Before further considering the question, ask yourself another question. Do Humans Make Good Pets? A human is a close cousin of the monkey. It is not usual, in civilised society, to keep a human as a pet. In fact, in most modern-day societies, to do so would be called slavery or kidnap!
Monkeys and apes are wild animals. They do not belong in captivity. In captivity they will become listless, smelly, aggressive and mentally disturbed..
Have you seen captive monkeys rocking back and forward, repeatedly. Sitting nodding their heads in a pronounced fashion, or pacing back and forth for hours. These are symptoms exhibited by humans but, usually, only in asylums.
Most of the great apes are big powerful animals. Even a chimpanzee could easily overpower a human. The little cutie (shown to the right), if he were a male, when fully grown, could rip an adult human’s arm off.
A recent news article reported a man being attacked by a “pet” lemur. An attack which nearly cost him his life.
