Isla de los Monos
About 38 acres, in the eastern coast of Puerto Rico sits Cayo Santiago, also named ‘Isla de los monos’ or Monkey Island as she houses over 1,000 free ranging rhesus macaque monkeys (Macaca mulatta).
Cayo Santiago is a research Field Station, run and maintained by the Caribbean Primate Research Center (CPRC) and the University of Puerto Rico Medical Campus. As the macaques are observed almost daily, their behavior, diet, and life is well documented by CPRC/UPR researchers.
In 2017 Hurricane Maria violently struck the island. This cyclone was one of the most disastrous on record, and resulted in long lasting effects to the communities, landscape, and biodiversity of Puerto Rico. The macaques on Cayo Santiago did not see many casualties. However the destruction of the vegetative life on the island has undoubtedly impacted the health, diet, and social behaviors of the macaques on the island.
Want to know more?
Follow my work to explore how macaques on the island were affected by Hurricane Maria ➪
