, Thailand. The many species of monkey have varied relationships with humans. Some are
kept as pets, others used as
model organisms in laboratories or in space missions. They may be killed in
monkey drives (when they threaten agriculture) or used as
service animals for the disabled. In some areas, some species of monkey are considered agricultural
pests, and can cause extensive damage to commercial and subsistence crops. This can have important implications for the conservation of endangered species, which may be subject to persecution. In some instances farmers' perceptions of the damage may exceed the actual damage. Monkeys that have become habituated to human presence in tourist locations may also be considered pests, attacking tourists.
Public exhibition Many zoos have maintained a facility in which monkeys and other primates are kept within enclosures for public entertainment. Commonly known as a monkey house (
primatarium), sometimes styled
Monkey House, notable examples include London Zoo's
Monkey Valley;
Zoo Basel's Monkey house/exhibit; the
Monkey Tropic House at Krefeld Zoo;
Bronx Zoo's Monkey House;
Monkey Jungle, Florida;
Lahore Zoo's Monkey House;
Monkey World, Dorset, England; and
Edinburgh Zoo's Monkey House. Former cinema,
The Scala, Kings Cross spent a short time as a primatarium.
As service animals for disabled people Some organizations train
capuchin monkeys as
service animals to assist
quadriplegics and other people with severe spinal cord injuries or
mobility impairments. After being
socialized in a human home as infants, the monkeys undergo extensive training before being placed with disabled people. Around the house, the monkeys assist with
daily tasks such as feeding, fetching, manipulating objects, and personal care.
Helper monkeys are usually trained in schools by private organizations, taking seven years to train, and are able to serve 25–30 years (two to three times longer than a
guide dog). In 2010, the
U.S. federal government revised its definition of service animal under the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Non-human primates are no longer recognized as service animals under the ADA. The
American Veterinary Medical Association does not support the use of non-human primates as assistance animals because of
animal welfare concerns, the potential for serious injury to people, and risks that primates
may transfer dangerous diseases to humans.
In experiments The most common monkey species found in animal research are the
grivet, the
rhesus macaque, and the
crab-eating macaque, which are either wild-caught or purpose-bred. They are used primarily because of their relative ease of handling, their fast reproductive cycle (compared to apes) and their psychological and physical similarity to
humans. Worldwide, it is thought that between 100,000 and 200,000 non-human primates are used in research each year, This number makes a very small fraction of all animals used in research.
As food Monkey brains are eaten as a delicacy in parts of
South Asia, Africa and China. Monkeys are sometimes eaten in parts of Africa, where they can be sold as "
bushmeat". In traditional
Islamic dietary laws, the eating of monkeys is
forbidden.
Literature '' (Memoirs of Babur)
Sun Wukong (the "Monkey King"), a character who figures prominently in
Chinese mythology, is the protagonist in the classic Chinese novel
Journey to the West. Monkeys are prevalent in numerous books, television programs, and movies. The
television series Monkey and the literary characters
Monsieur Eek and
Curious George are all examples. Informally, "monkey" may refer to apes, particularly chimpanzees, gibbons, and gorillas. Author
Terry Pratchett alludes to this difference in usage in his
Discworld novels, in which the
Librarian of the
Unseen University is an
orangutan who gets very violent if referred to as a monkey. Another example is the use of
Simians in Chinese poetry. The
winged monkeys are prominent characters in
L. Frank Baum's
Wizard of Oz books and in the
1939 film based on Baum's 1900 novel
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz.
Religion and worship with his symbol of monkey below his idol Monkey is the symbol of fourth
Tirthankara in
Jainism,
Abhinandananatha.
Hanuman, a prominent deity in
Hinduism, is a human-like monkey god who is believed to bestow courage, strength and longevity to the person who thinks about him or
Rama. In
Buddhism, the monkey is an early incarnation of Buddha but may also represent trickery and ugliness. The
Chinese Buddhist "
mind monkey" metaphor refers to the unsettled, restless state of human mind. Monkey is also one of the Three Senseless Creatures, symbolizing greed, with the tiger representing anger and the deer lovesickness. The
Sanzaru, or
three wise monkeys, are revered in Japanese folklore; together they embody the proverbial principle to "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The
Moche people of ancient Peru worshipped nature. They placed emphasis on animals and often depicted monkeys in their art. The
Tzeltal people of Mexico worshipped monkeys as incarnations of their dead ancestors.
Zodiac . The
Monkey (猴) is the ninth in the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the
Chinese zodiac related to the
Chinese calendar. {{#switch: ==See also==