In the world of monkeys

Watching monkeys can be so entertaining, especially when they get up to their crazy monkey business. Here are some interesting facts to celebrate them:

1. There are more than 260 different types of monkeys in the world.
2. There are New World and Old World monkeys.
3. The New World monkeys live in the Americas while the Old World monkeys live in Africa and Asia.
4. The mandrill is the world’s largest monkey in the world and you can find him in the rainforests of equatorial Africa. He is about 1m tall and weighs 35kg.
5. This monkey has a colourful face and long arms.
6. He loves climbing trees and will sleep in a different tree every night.
7. There are two types of monkeys in South Africa: Vervet monkey and Samango monkey.
8. Samango monkeys can be found north of St Lucia in the coastal forests of KwaZulu-Natal and in forests in Mpumalanga.
9.  Monkeys grooming each other is called allogrooming and is beneficial to the health of these animals.
10. Studies show that groomed animals are generally healthier than non-groomed animals.
11. The two main reasons why monkeys groom each other are to keep their coats clean, and to build their social bond.
12. Animals, like monkeys and baboons, can spend hours in a day grooming their troop mates and will remove parasites and dirt from each other’s coats.
13. Sometimes they groom each other to make peace after a quarrel.
14. Monkeys are omnivores, which means they eat plants and meat.
15. Monkeys will forage throughout the day and will eat whatever they come across, including a variety of fruit, nuts, seeds and flowers.
16. They will also eat small animals like lizards, scorpions and spiders, and will even eat eggs.
17. The biggest difference between the monkeys and apes is that monkeys have tails and apes don’t.
18. Apes are more clever than monkeys and overall larger.