The Week in Animal News: Inspiring Penguin Love, Rhesus Monkeys Gone Wild and More

Alex Davies
Science / Endangered Species
February 17, 2012

Diseased Monkeys Gone Wild

Last week, Federal Wildlife officials articulated the threats faced by Everglades wildlife from invasive pythons, but there's another non-native species nearby which may pose an even greater problem for humans. For the last 80 years, a hardy population of rhesus monkeys has been living in the wild of central Florida, where they've long been considered an attraction among tourists. But according to park agents, the unwelcome monkeys present "a true public hazard"—namely because many of them are carrying a form of simian herpes which can be deadly to humans.