#scientit

[earthstory]

Monkey Island: Cayo Santiago Imagine an uninhabited island originally set up as a research station. A few monkeys are released there to observe and study. Fast-forward several years and monkeys run the island—no humans allowed. Sound like a science fiction movie? A Planet of the Apes knock-off? Well….in this case, it’s not. This island exists—it’s Cayo Santiago in the Caribbean near Puerto Rico.

In 1938, a population of 409 rhesus monkeys from India was released on this island for research purposes. Since then, the population has ballooned to somewhere around 1000 monkeys, but this has been far from a disaster or experiment-gone-wrong—Cayo Santiago is one of the premier primate research stations in the world. Want to visit? Well, unfortunately you can’t, unless you happen to be on a monkey research mission. The island is inhabited by wild animals after all, and we can only imagine how letting tourists in might mess up important scientific observations. Also, the monkeys can carry herpes B—easily transmittable to humans. You CAN observe the monkeys from a kayak or snorkel trip if you stay outside of a 30-foot island radius. Monkey Island exists…sometimes life can be stranger than fiction after all. If you’re curious about what kind of research has been done there, go here—http://bit.ly/1Jnze89. -CM For more information: http://bit.ly/1THo2L3

http://n.pr/1GE07mK Photo credit: http://bit.ly/1Jp0fZ7

[rival-rook]

how many times am i going to type “scientits” today

how many