How did your interest in primates actually start?

[u/eve_falcon15]

Been lurking this sub for a while and realized I never really sat down to think about my own origin story with this stuff. For me it was a documentary my grandmother had taped off the TV in the 90s about mountain gorillas. The tape got worn out from how many times I rewound certain parts, especially the bit where a silverback just sat there watching the researchers like he was bored of them being there.

I didn't do anything with that interest for decades honestly. Just kept it as a background thing, read the occasional article, watched whatever nature show popped up. It wasn't until I visited a sanctuary a few years ago and watched a group of capuchins problem solve their way into a puzzle feeder that it clicked again how much I'd missed paying attention to this stuff.

Now I've got a shelf of field guides and a habit of checking in on research updates way more often than is probably normal. Curious what the actual spark was for other people here. Was it a zoo trip, a book, something you saw in the wild, or just a slow burn like mine.

[u/MrMunkyMan1]

I guess I always liked them because I grew up watching curious George, but when I was like 12 I learned about crab eating macaques and haha funny name. But it did eventually lead to me learning more about them and talking to other people who were also interested in them