Where Humans are Caged and Monkeys Run Wild. The Monkey Jungle Miami

If you like nature you must come here!

Having those monkeys and their babies jumping on your back,  over your shoulders,  and climbing on your legs was one of the best experiences of my life.

I had so much fun, I laughed until I cried.

In the early 1930’s Joseph Demond,  an aspiring animal behaviorist,  brought six Java Macaque  monkeys from Southeast Asia and released them into a dense tropical hammock in South Florida, and they never left.

Later DeMond in what started as a place to study primates,  decided to open to the public,  charging guests 10 cents to view the monkeys.

Due to the Java monkeys being territorial,  and the newly introduced wandering guests,  the monkey’s frequently attacked the guests.

DeMond came up with the most notable feature of the Monkey Jungle, the caging of the guests.

While the park’s original concept,  where the humans are caged and the monkeys run wild still exists today, the other way is a one of a kind animal encounter that allows guests to see and actually feed the monkeys by hand.

This immersive rainforest adventure is hosted by friendly and informative jungle guides,  but you can also explore on your own.   It takes around an hour to venture through the 30 acre wildlife primatarium park.

The descendants of those six original primates still roam freely through the park, but there are about 150 squirrel monkeys,  along with the Red Howler monkeys that are named by the sound the males roar-like vocalization that can be heard over a mile away.

Along with several other primates The Cameroon Gorilla Forest has a “king” that interacts within his 10 acre enclosure.

The Monkey Jungle also provides homes to other animals such as lemurs, sloths, turtles, tortoises and a rhino iguana.

There are three tours a day and reservations are requested.   They are open every day 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Now feeding the monkeys from a cage is $30 per person, but to interact with the monkeys it’s an additional $130.