Mona Monkey

Most people are just content to have a regular pet that does not create any hassle or special treatment but there are others who want to stand-out in the crowd having a different kind, an exotic pet that pushes the pet owner status a notch higher than the rest. Maybe it’s a symbol of having a unique pet or
basically because exotic pets are fun to have and “uniquely yours” for the taking.

Of the many lists that would tackle wild or exotic pets to have, the Mona Monkey, undoubtedly is always part of it. An Old Word Monkey that lives and urvives mostly in Western Africa, the Mona Monkey is native of Nigeria, Angola, Congo, Cambia and West Uganda. They can also be spotted on the island of Grenada which was believed to be brought to the island by pirate and slave ships during the 18 th century. Grenada is a three-island state located in the Eastern Caribbean at the southern side of the Windward islands which is about 100 miles north of Venezuela.

Primates and monkeys are classified into two basic groups: the Old word and the New World. The Old World and the New World monkeys are typically identified by the form and structure of their noses. Old Word monkeys such as the Mona Monkey has broader noses with a wide septum separating outwardly directed noses while the New World have more narrow ones. Old World Monkeys would include the baboons and the macaques.

Mona Monkeys love to live and thrive at the middle and tops of trees in the rainforests making them as arboreal species rather than terrestrial although there are a few known Mona monkeys that stay in forests and swamps and sometimes on farmlands.

The body length of a Mona Monkey is from 32 to 53 cm and its tail is surprisingly so long that reaches up to 67 to 90 centimeters. This is where they got their name “mona” with its Moorish root and the extensively long tails. Not only is the length of the tail so unique and extreme, but also its color. The top portion of the tail Mona monkey is black at the top portion with a black tip and under it is somewhat lighter and greyish. Identically, they have white lips and have greyish-yellow cheeks with a distinctively bluish gray on the top half of its face.

Weighing about 15 to 20 pounds, the Mona Monkey’s life span reaches to early 20’s and even 30’s, one major reason that it can make a great and long-time exotic pet. It also tops the most exotic pets to own with a pricy tag at $6,000 to $8,000, much closer to the DeBrazza’s at $10,000.00

Despite the staggering price, just like any monkey, they love to climb because of their arboreal nature, fairly sociable and friendly. Their diet requirements are pretty simple and easy to prepare that consists mainly of insects, fruits, leaves and sprouts. What is so amazing about this specie is their ability to store food in their cheek pouch which has a storage capacity as big as the stomach extending to both sides of the neck from the lower teeth.

Mona Monkey Video