"The monkeys have trashed the bar again'. Unlike the 'nocturnal raider' hyena, monkeys work during broad daylight, carrying out audacious raids under the noses of staff. They will seize any opportunity, even it seems, when the opportunity does not present itself. As with the hyena they have no respect for personal belongings, often seeming to take great joy in making humans angry.
The monkeys learnt to open tents and to raid medical supplies of the guests. They have been known to choose pills ahead of fruit. In the process of checking a room I found that monkeys had got in to the room and scattered the contents of a medical bag. Pills had been eaten but an apple next to the bag was untouched.
At Little Mombo I put up a picture of a leopard from Lex Hes' book. The result was amazing. Monkeys sat a distance away alarm calling. We used the method every meal time after that and it kept the desired effect.
Squirrels were unaffected by the picture and from this we determined that it is because they are illiterate. They would hop across the buffet and steal whatever caught their eye usually nuts and then scamper off along the walkway. The monkeys caught on to this and learned to wait for the squirrels to steal the food and then would chase the squirrles and steal the food away.
By Leigh Kemp