Skip to main content

Monkey Island, South Carolina



Not many people know that Morgan Island in South Carolina is home to about 3,500 monkeys! The island has appropriately been dubbed Monkey Island. It is home to one of two Rhesus Monkey colonies in the United States, the other is located in Florida. The island is owned by the SC DNR (Department of Natural Resources) located near St. Helena island since the 1970s. 

 They originally were located at a research center in Puerto Rico. After several monkeys infected with a virus escaped and caused outbreaks among locals, the monkeys were moved.

That's where South Carolina stepped in. The state offered the island for research and about 1,400 monkeys were brought to Beaufort County.

Now the breeding colony is used by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, which is part of the National Institute of Health, for research.


That research helps develop life-saving preventions and treatments for diseases affecting public health, according to the institute. But it could not provide a specific example of a treatment the S.C. monkeys have played a role in given the long history of the colony.

"It could be said that its members potentially had roles in many of the public health advances of this generation," according to an institute spokesman.

The frequency and number of animals taken off the island each year for research varies depending on the projects, and they are not returned to Morgan Island, the spokesperson added.


No research is conducted on the island, according to the institute, and the colony is provided some food, water and veterinary care in compliance with federal laws.

But beyond their scientific value, the monkeys also provide endless entertainment for those who boat, kayak or fish nearby -- though law strictly prohibits people from going onto the island.

The monkeys often are seen walking the beaches, sun bathing in the tree-tops and some even going for a little dip in the marshes.

"People will see a lot of the wildlife out there that you would expect to see, like alligators, otters and migratory birds," Maier (Phil Maier, director of coastal reserves and outreach at S.C. DNR)
 said. "But those monkeys definitely are an unusual sight not from around these parts."

Read more here: http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/community/beaufort-news/article33694548.html#storylink=cpy

Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Top 5 Nude Beaches in the United States

Public nudity is something frowned upon in the United States - many of us are thankful for that -, although in Europe most beaches are nude friendly. If you want to feel a little more free, and looking for a new experience, then check out these top five nude beaches in the United States.  5. San Gregorio, San Mateo County, California  The small town of San Gregorio, home to only 287 people is just south of San Francisco. This is the oldest nude beach in the United States. San Gregorio is popular with the Bay area gay community, who are typically found on the northern part of the beach, and straight visitors tend to stay on the southern side. With two-miles of beach to explore there is a spot for everyone. No matter what side you are on, everyone stays to watch the sunset.   4. Black's Beach, San Diego California Tucked away between La Jolla and Torrey Pines State Beach, Black's Beach is incredibly secluded. Surrounded by high cliff walls, an...
Post a Comment
Read more

LEGENDARY FEMALE PIRATE

Anne Bonny (left) and Mary Read (right) Anne Bonny was born in Kinsale, Ireland around 1697, and was the illegitimate daughter of lawyer William Cormac and his maid Marry Brennan. After William's wife made this news public, his reputation was ruined, so he left Ireland for a fresh start in the New World. He settled with his new family in Charleston, South Carolina where he started a new legal career, and bought a plantation. Anne's mother died in her late teens, and she had to take care of her father's household. There are many stories about Anne's teen years, claiming she murdered a servant girl with a knife, and another about a man she put in the hospital for attempting to sexually assault her. When Anne was sixteen years old, she fell in love with a pirate, James Bonny. Anne's father was against the relationship, but she married James anyways. William disowned Anne, and this is when Anne Bonny's life changed forever. James took his new wife to New Prov...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meaningful Fact #3 (Secret Federal Agency Killing Wildlife!)

The highly secretive arm of the U.S. Department of Agriculture known as Wildlife Services killed more than 3.2 million animals during fiscal year 2015, according to new data released by the agency. The total number of wolves, coyotes, bears, mountain lions, beavers, foxes, eagles and other animals killed largely at the behest of the livestock industry and other agribusinesses represents a half-million-animal increase over the 2.7 million animals the agency killed in 2014. Despite increasing calls for reform a century after the federal wildlife-killing program began in 1915, the latest kill report indicates that the program’s reckless slaughter continues, including 385 gray wolves, 68,905 coyotes (plus an unknown number of pups in 492 destroyed dens), 480 black bears, 284 mountain lions, 731 bobcats, 492 river otters (all but 83 killed “unintentionally”), 3,437 foxes, two bald eagles and 21,559 beavers. The program also killed 20,777 prairie dogs outright, plus an unknown nu...
Post a Comment
Read more