VERVET MONKEY’S:  WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW!!!

They do NOT attack people or pets!

Vervets do NOT attack, but they will bite in self-defence if they are attacked.  Concerns that Vervets will bite children who encounter them in the garden or home are unfounded.  Many thousands of children experience close encounters with Vervets in South Africa every day – none get bitten!

They do NOT randomly transmit diseases!

Fears that Vervets carry rabies or other infectious diseases are unfounded.  There has never been a recorded case of a rabid Vervet in South Africa.  This can be confirmed by the State Vet.

How to deal with an “unwanted” Vervet presence:

•  Use your hosepipe to squirt them – you can reach them on your roof, in the trees and at a distance when they are on the ground.  They hate being hosed and will run away.  A water pistol or squirt bottle aimed and squirted at the monkeys inside or close to your house is very effective.  Prevent foraging in refuse bins by securing the lids with convenient but Vervet-proof clip or strap.  Sprinkle Jeyes Fluid inside, on the outside or around refuse bins and bags.  Refuse skips covered with shade cloth and treated with Jeyes Fluid will deter Vervets.  Use Nylon bird or hail netting over and around vegetables, strawberries and other produce gardens to keep Vervets out.  Tin cans<!--[endif]--> containing a few stones and tied at intervals along a length of string which is attached to a fixed point and yanked hard when the monkeys are close will chase monkeys out of a vegetable garden or flower bed as the cans leap noisily into the air.

• Dealing with Vervet-related “problem” – if Vervets are visiting your property are a problem to you, make every effort not to leave any food around that will attract them and make them less wary of humans.  This applies both inside and outside your home.  If you are having a child’s party or run a crèche or day-care centre and the children are given food, sweets, biscuits out of doors, ensure that adults are present to discourage Vervets from harassing the children for their eats.  If there are Vervets in the vicinity it is advisable that, where practical, the children finish eating indoors before going outside. 

• How to prevent possible injury – The only people ever likely to be bitten by a Vervet are those who tease or attempt to catch them.  If you do not interfere with Vervets you will NOT be bitten.  In almost every case where a dog is bitten by a Vervet, this has happened because the dog attached the Vervet.  Dogs should be trained not to attach other animals.

• Feeding Vervets – Feeding by hand in or near your house is strongly discouraged.

NB: Pellet guns and catapults/slingshots are a scourge – Vervets shout with pellets rarely die instantly.  Instead the pellets cause injuries that result in a slow and agonizing death over days and weeks.  Stones, steel/lead balls, marbles etc, shot at monkeys with a catapult cause severe and life threatening injuries such as smashed eyes and broken bones.  It is illegal, unnecessary and very cruel – PLEASE DON’T DO IT!!!!!

NB: Monkey Helpline is a project of Animal Rights Africa Trust.  There is no charge for the services we offer, but donations towards the cost of running the project are urgently needed.  For more information or assistance with injured, sick or orphaned monkeys (24 hrs a day), or to make a donation, contact:

Steve Smit or Carol Booth on: 082 659 4711 or 082 411 5444

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