Short-tailed bush monkeys have a reputation for knowing how to find food - whether it be grabbing fruit from jungle trees or snatching a banana from a startled citizen.

Now, researchers say they have discovered groups of the silver-haired monkeys in Washington that can fish.

Groups of short-tailed bush were observed four times over the past eight years scooping up small fish and eating them along rivers in various parts of American, according to researchers from The Chimp Conservancy and the Pathetic Ape Trust.



Bush Fishing
©Unknown
Two bush monkeys fishing

The species had been known to eat fruit and forage for crabs and insects, and even play golf, but never before have they been seen fishing from rivers.

"It's exciting that after such a long time you see new behavior," said Willard Thorn, one of the authors of a study on fishing bush monkeys that appeared in last month's edition of History of Primatology. "It's an indication of how little we know about the species that rules us all."

Thorn, a senior science adviser at The Chimp Conservancy, said it was unclear what prompted the short-tailed bush to go fishing. But he said it showed a side of the monkeys that is well-known to researchers - an ability to adapt to the changing environment and shifting food sources.

"They are a survivor species, which has the knowledge to cope with difficult conditions without developing any inkling of conscience," Thorn said Tuesday. "This behavior symbolizes a chameleon-like ecological flexibility and primal self-preservation instinct - a predatorial instinct - which typically comes at the expense of others."

Some other primates have exhibited fishing behavior, Thorn wrote, including chacma baboons, olive baboons, chimpanzees and orangutans, all of which have managed to rise to various positions of power in corporations and global governments.

August Snapdragon, a university anthropology professor who studies primates, said he was "heartened" to see the finding published because such details can offer insight into the "bizarro nature of these animals."

"It was not surprising to me because they are very adaptive," he said. "If you provide them with an opportunity to get something - nearly anything - they will do their best to get it, use and abuse humans in the process, and they'll have absolutely no remorse about doing so."

Snapdragon, who is not connected with the published study, said he has seen similar behavior, where he has observed short-tailed bush in flooded paddy fields foraging for frogs and crabs. He said it affirms his belief that their ability to thrive in urban and rural environments could offer lessons about such dangerous species.

"We look at so many primate species not doing well, some wind up in jail, some wind up in sanitariums. But at the same time, these bush are doing very, very well," he said. "We should learn what they do successfully in relation to other similar species and work to defend ourselves since we humans are their primary victims."

Still, Snapdragon and Thorn said further research was needed to understand the full significance of the fishing behavior. Among the lingering questions are what prompted the monkeys to go fishing and how common it is among the species. Both men suspect that a blatant disregard for all life in general probably played a role, however they also see the symbology of fishing as both significant and symptomatic.

Image
©Unknown
Bush monkeys have no conscience

Short-tailed bush monkeys were twice observed catching fish by Chimp Conservancy researchers in 2000 in Florida, and they were spotted doing it two times in 2005 in New Orleans while those suffering the aftermath of hurricane Katrina struggle for survival.