MARION COUNTY, Fla. — A woman and her two sons had a frightening encounter with a group of aggressive rhesus macaque monkeys at Silver Springs State Park in Marion County.
The entire incident was caught on cellphone camera by one of the boys and showed the monkeys grunting and hissing at the family before chasing after them.
The encounter troubled some park visitors, who now wonder if it’s time for the park to relocate the monkeys.
“I assume the park’s going to take care of it,” park visitor Mike Davis said. “I would imagine.”
Park rangers at Silver Springs Tuesday could not comment on the issue, but did say two sections of the park had been closed to visitors due to the monkeys.
They also said the park was working with state wildlife agents to establish a plan for the future.
While there are sections of the park that have been closed, visitor Troy Blair noted that didn’t mean monkeys were confined to those areas.
“The forest is huge around here, so they could be anywhere,” he said.
Visitor Mike Davis, though, argued for the monkeys, saying people should just let them be.
“Man, they were invading (the monkeys’) territory, man,” Davis said. “You know, that’s their territory.”