Monkey Through The Looking Glass

Two of the three Vervet Monkeys I take care of are absolutely fascinated by mirrors.

Here Stoffel challenges her reflection - she's been fighting with herself for over 20 years now. Despite the futility of the exercise, if I'm around, she cannot pass a mirror without posturing; raising her eyebrows, approaching her image and chattering in anger.

I have no idea what goes on in her head, I can only speculate that it's her uncontrollable jealousy - she gets insanely uptight if any female, human or other, approaches me.


This is Tumbili peering at her reflection in the camera lens - she's cuddling a stuffless stuffed toy.

She has a strong maternal instinct but I can't allow her to mate because that would just perpetuate the 'monkeys in captivity' thing ... Primates should be left in the wild, that's where they belong.


Tumbili using her new porridge bowl as a mirror.

I've given her plastic-framed cosmetic mirrors in the past but she destroys them within a few hours.

She seems to prefer tiny mirror shards, manipulating them to see inside this wonderland which she can't enter - it's too funny to see her turn her back on me, mirror in hand, and watch as I approach with her food.


Lucky shows no interest in mirrors. She is very difficult to photograph - as soon as I point a camera at her she ducks and hides.

She distrusts humans in general and it is only recently that she's begun to approach me and cautiously take her favorite snacks from my hand.

Lucky was found trapped on a barbed-wire fence. She had a dog collar around her waist attached to a short piece of rope which had become entangled in the fence.

She was in terrible condition, her teeth had been knocked out, her mouth deformed and she was full of scars, with a particularly nasty wound around her waist from the dog collar - she had obviously escaped from her tormentors when her restraining rope broke ... hence the name 'Lucky'.


A fur-less monkey takes a photo of his reflection in a window.

This particular specimen generally ignores mirrors but, at times, is obliged to look himself in the eye when he shaves.


A great shot of Stoffel taken by my daughter Nadine. Notice that, because Stoffel only has one arm, she's using her foot to hold the mirror.

Like Tumbili, she spends ages manipulating the mirror to peek into every corner of the 'otherworld' - I wonder who is more entertained? ... her, wondering? ... or me, wondering what she's wondering?

Related Posts:

Soul Sister


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Vervet Monkey - Cercopithecus aethiops

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I came upon one of the many troops of Vervet Monkeys on the banks of the Orange River in southern Namibia.

The adults, having encountered humans before, scattered as soon as they saw my camera, (they often get shot at and are wary of people pointing anything at them), but a couple of youngsters, unable to contain their curiosity, hung out in the trees above me for awhile.

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Soul Sister

OneStonedCrow Pic
This is Stoffel - my animal 'soul-mate'.

Friends confiscated her from some soldiers in a bar 24 years ago. She was a babe, about two months old, (her mother had probably been shot to get at her, which is usually how they're stolen from the wild). My friends could not keep her because they lived in a town and asked if I would be willing to care for her ...

... the instant Stoffel set eyes on me, she jumped straight into my arms and began smacking her lips and grooming me; thus began a profoundly strange, intense and at times, frustrating friendship. She regards me as her alpha monkey "husband", she's insanely jealous and gets very uptight if anyone,(especially a woman), approaches me. She would, I believe, defend me to the death against any attacker and has, on occasion, saved my butt by alerting me to the presence of snakes.

When she was about eight months old she climbed a power pylon and was electrocuted. The vet managed to save her, but had to amputate her left arm and tail. Her disability has not affected her zest for life or her agility. I suspect though, that being tailless gives her more reason to think she's human. Her accident probably triggered a protective response in me and caused me to give her a lot more attention than I otherwise might have.

Given the close human contact she's had from an early age,(my family is the only 'troop' she knows), it was inevitable that she take on human attributes. Conversely, having interacted so closely with her, I have become somewhat monkey-like,(the same thing happened to Dian Fossey of "Gorillas In The Mist" fame). Anyone who's been really close to a cat or dog may understand what I mean.

Throughout the years she's tested my human friendships and cost me dearly in property damage. I had to have her razor-sharp incisors removed because she would often fly into a mindless rage and bite people; which could have had fatal consequences.

She has trained me to secure all valuables, medications, booze and anything that can be dismantled. For example, I have to shut-down and lock my laptop away every time I leave my desk, otherwise she'll chew the keys off. But, it's when she raids my stash that I get most upset ...

I also take care of two other rescued Vervet monkeys. I try to keep an emotional distance from them, they're housed in a large cage outside. It is difficult,(though not impossible), to rehabilitate these creatures back into the wild, but it requires dedicated time and resources, neither of which I have. The best I can do is to provide them with food, shelter and a secure environment where they are not teased or tormented.

I could write many pages and thousands of words about the fur people and their antics but, ... right now, it's time for another grooming session ...

You can see more pics of Stoffel, Tumbili and Lucky here.

... and for the record, I'm opposed to the practice of keeping primates as "pets", or in any other form of captivity, ... they should be left where they belong: ... in the wild, swinging freely from the trees ...

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