According to the Three Wise Monkeys, it’s best to see no evil, hear no evil, and speak no evil.
Except that’s not at all what’s happening with a group of capuchin monkeys on an island in Panama who appear to be kidnapping the babies of another monkey species.
Scientists are bewildered by the behavior and are looking for answers.
Monkeys were seen kidnapping monkeys of another species in a hidden camera video
Highlights
- Video shows teenage male capuchin monkeys kidnapping infant howler monkeys
- Researchers say the behavior might simply be monkeys imitating each other
- It wouldn’t be the first time animals exhibited strange copy-cat behavior
Image credits: David M. Jensen / Wikipedia (not the actual photo)
Researchers with the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior in Germany, as well as those from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, recently observed some strange animal behavior in a group of capuchin monkeys.
They had set up several cameras on Jicarón Island, about 55 kilometers, or 34 miles, off the coast of Panama in Coiba National Park, to observe a group of capuchins, known for their white faces and cunning intelligence.
In hours of video footage, the researchers discovered that a group of adolescent male capuchins were walking off with the babies of another separate monkey species.
“Monkey see, monkey do” is a possible explanation for why monkeys are kidnapping other monkeys in Panama
Image credits: Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Meg Crofoot, the managing director at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior said that when she saw a pic of the howler clinging to the capuchin, she thought: "What? What is going on here? It looked so weird. It looked so wrong.”
It all started with one capuchin the researchers named Joker, after the Batman villain, because of a scar near his mouth.
Researchers saw Joker walk off with baby after baby. At first, they thought it might have been a mistake. But then other capuchins started to copy Joker.
“Curious and innovative” capuchin monkeys kidnap howler monkeys in Panama
Image credits: Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Howler monkeys live in trees, and since the cameras were set up on the ground, the actual abductions were not recorded.
One of the scientists who helped publish the findings, Brendan Barrett, told the media that capuchins are smart and curious.
"They're highly innovative, they're highly explorative," Barrett said. "They do interesting, strange things."
Infant howler monkeys perish from starvation after being kidnapped by capuchin monkeys
Researchers saw that the howlers, who were just a few days or weeks old, would grasp onto their abductors, not realizing what was happening.
The capuchins, meanwhile, seemed not to notice—or care—that they had just stolen a baby.
In many cases, the capuchins would basically ignore the howler clinging to its back, until it simply fell off and perished from starvation.
Barrett said the baby howlers “are likely d*ing from dehydration or lack of nutrition,” and that there were several dead howler babies seen in the video.
Scientists look for answers as to why monkeys are stealing other baby monkeys
Image credits: Christian Ziegler / Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior
Image credits: Rhododendrites / Wikipedia (not the actual photo)
Of course the big question stumping researchers is—why? Why would the capuchins do such a thing? Was it because they wanted babies of their own?
Researchers say this kind of thing does happen, where a female monkey without a child of her own kidnaps another monkey’s baby.
But first, these are male capuchins, and second, they don’t interact with the howlers.
Monkey-on-monkey kidnappings in Panama could just be a passing fad, scientists say
Image credits: natgeo / Instagram
Image credits: Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior / YouTube
Researchers say it could just be a fad—something the capuchins do because they’re bored or looking for something risky or exciting to get into.
Zoë Goldsborough with the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior says, “I was shocked. I realized that it was really something that we hadn’t seen before.”
Researchers say that, for now, it appears that only one group of capuchins are kidnapping howlers.
If the capuchins were in fact just horsing around, looking for a distraction, or copying their peers, it wouldn’t be the first time such behavior was displayed in the animal kingdom.
A pod of killer whales were famously seen with dead salmon on their heads. Was it a snack or just for fashion? Scientists still aren’t sure!
Check out the moment a male capuchin monkey walks off with an infant howler monkey
Four little monkeys sitting in a tree, one gets abducted, and now there are three
