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Breeds of Monkey:While the term ‘monkey’ is probably more generalized than ever before, not many people are aware that there is a huge variety of monkey species on the planet.
Although there are a number of different monkeys, specialists have classified all varieties into two main types. These are the new world primates and the old world primates. The new world primates are more commonly found around the regions of South America and Central America while their old world counterparts are found in parts of Asia and Africa.
The major difference between the two groups is more concerned with their tails. The newer world monkeys are able to use their tales to grasp and hold objects – a function that the tails of the old world primates are unable to perform. On the other hand, however, new world primates do not have the opposable thumbs that many of the old world primates possess.
A number of people are unaware of the fact that species of primates like apes, orangutans and chimpanzees are not considered to be monkeys.
There are a few pet monkey species, although housing these animals may be illegal depending on what part of the country you live in. Moreover, keeping a monkey as a pet requires the owner to have a lot of commitment to the pet as there are very few things that can be as annoying as housing an irritable pet monkey. Some of the better known pet monkey species include the pet capuchin monkey which weighs roughly about 4.5 to 8 lbs. Its relatively light weight allows it to be very mobile and faster than the more traditional pets such as dogs and cats. These species of monkey do not choose a single mate and are extremely sociable allowing a single male to live in a colony of 10 females. The pet squirrel monkeys are much smaller monkeys that walk on all fours and will tend to jump very frequently. These animals will usually reach sexual maturity around the time they are three years old and prefer to sleep up high due to their natural instincts to sleep on the branches of some tall trees. The most common species known to man is the pet macaque’s monkey although there are about 22 different varieties of macaques. Most monkeys pertaining to this species make very good pets; however, they are known to be carriers of the herpes B-virus, making them a possible medical threat. With proper pet health care, monkey breeds can be adopted and kept as pet.
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