What do you keep as a pet if you live in the rainforest? Not a pet snake, that’s for sure. We saw this little girl and her pet monkey in the village of Pacayaku, on our river journey down the Rio Bobonaza in Ecuador.
Normally these little creatures are adopted as pets when their mother has been killed in a hunt and brought back to the village as food. Although it seems unthinkable to us to kill a species with features so close to our own, as a meat eater I can’t deny the villagers one of the few local sources of meat in their diet. You can see how irresistible these little monkeys are as pets.
See my Ecuador photos on Flickr here
Read more about Ecuador
Loading the dug-out canoe in Ecuador
Sleeping in a canoe in Ecuador
A Wika tattoo in Ecuador
This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com
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Sara @ BestPetReviews
Monday 19th of March 2018
Wow! I didn't know they eat monkeys there! So sad for the little monkey babies! I hope the little kids enjoy being with the monkey babies!
sparky
Friday 1st of May 2009
its cute
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Dominique
Monday 2nd of March 2009
Oops...here's the link
http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit-us/whats-on/temporary-exhibitions/wpy/onlineGallery.do
Dominique
Monday 2nd of March 2009
Cute show, but as you point out...the adult monkeys don't always enjoy such a harmonious relationship with humans in some places.
We recently went to see the BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year show (our Detroit Zoo is the North American debut for the show and only US venue for this fab show). The most disturbing shot in the show was one of a monkey being prepared for sale in Gabon (tossed in a fire to strip it of its fur)...which won the One Earth Award for UK photographer David Maitland. It was, as Maitland said, "deeply upsetting"...although from what I read of Maitland's thoughts, he took the shot to bring attention to illegal trafficking in bushmeat he saw as he traveled.
This is the link for the main page of the exhibit. It's pretty easy to find Maitland's photo from there if you must see it. Lots of great work in the show, and lots of more uplifting subjects as well :)