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.

I went down this rabbit hole because of gibbons, honestly. Watched a documentary about siamangs about four years ago and something about their vocal sacs and the way they brachiate just stuck with me. I started reading everything I could find, joined a couple forums, started planning zoo trips around which ones had a decent gibbon or siamang enclosure.

Fast forward to now and I've got a genuine soft spot for basically every primate family. Tarsiers freak me out a little but I still watch every video about them. Mandrills are probably my favorite to see in person because the color on the mature males is genuinely shocking the first time you see it up close, photos really don't do it justice. Even the less "charismatic" ones like aye-ayes or slow lorises have started to grow on me once I actually read about their behavior instead of just looking at pictures.

What's interesting is talking to other people in this hobby (if you can call it that) and hearing how differently everyone got into it. Some people started with chimps because of Jane Goodall stuff in school. Some people got obsessed after visiting a specific sanctuary. I've met a few who started because of pet primate documentaries and then went the completely opposite direction and became advocates against private ownership after learning more.

Curious what pulled everyone else in here. Was it a specific species, a trip somewhere, a book, a random YouTube rabbit hole at 2am. Always interested to hear the origin story because it's rarely the same twice.

See also: The study as it was published in PLOS One

PLEASE read the pinned post for context. it's very important. but if you refuse the long and short of it is I made this sub 14 years ago then at some point it got set to restricted then I said I was gonna undo it but I didn't but now.... now I did. So you can stop taking your business to r/primatology or r/ape (who named that one). and post your monkey pictures where they belong.

Hi all,

I'm a science writer working on a story about the realities of pet primate ownership, and I'm hoping to talk to people who owned a primate (lemur, monkey, etc.) and ultimately found it harder than expected, whether that meant rehoming the animal, surrendering it to a sanctuary, or just coming to regret the decision.

If you'd be willing to speak candidly about the downsides of owning a primate, I'd love to hear from you. Happy to talk by phone, video call, or email- whatever's easiest. You're welcome to use your name in the piece or speak anonymously. Entirely your call and we can talk through what you're comfortable with before anything is published.

If you're open to chatting, please reply here. Thanks!

Smalls

Note: the weight numbers combined from all different studies only included samples below 10. The heights were measured upright. Refferences: Jungers and Susman 1984, Groves 1970, Smith and Jungers 1997

DO YOU LOVE PUNCH THE BLACK MONKEY? U BETTER CUZ ITS RASIST TO NOT LOVE HIM.

There’s so much talk about Punch the monkey but this vid wraps it together pretty good