"Where the humans are caged and the monkeys run wild" - it's more than a catch-phrase. Monkey Jungle in southern Miami-Dade County is a truly unique park. While homo sapiens walk through carefully constructed wire pathways, many species of primates scamper above your head, swing through trees and interact with each other in ways difficult to observe in captivity. Keep your eyes open; you never know who's hanging around!
Monkey Jungle was started in 1935 when Joseph DuMonds and his wife brought the first six monkeys to this 10-acre plot to observe them living in their natural habitat. He chose Florida because its climate and ecology are very similar to their native home, Southeast Asia. When he started letting interested visitors into the park, he knew he could never cage his monkeys. If humans wanted to come, they would have to be the ones in cages! Today, the 30-acre Monkey Jungle is still owned and operated by Joseph DuMonds' son, Frank.
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1 comment:
Again, Great story. Has any of your followers ever heard of a reptile farm in Central Florida about 1958-1959 that was owned by Charles Garvin of Bowling Green, KY.?
Garvin bought many of the Ringling elephants after the 1956 season and promptly resold them as soon as possible. I found out about this retile farm when I found out one of the elephants he bought was there for a couple years.
His place in Kentucky was called Beechbend Park. I never found out the name of the Reptile farm or town, just Central Florida.
Bob
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