Rescued Vervet Monkeys love getting bottle-fed

These adorable Vervet Monkeys were orphaned and rescued at a very early age, and had to grow up at a wildlife center. In order to be able to return to the wild, they can't be humanized, which means that they can't get used to people, or they would approach them once they are free, and it would result in they either getting captured and kept as pets, or killed, so even when getting bottle-fed, a distance is kept. They still enjoy it just the same, and one even closes its eyes! How cute are they?!Show more

The Vervet Monkey (Chlorocebus pygerythrus) is an Old World monkey, which means that it belongs to the Cercopithecidae family, the largest of all primate families, comprising 138 species of primates.

The term "vervet" is used to refer to all members of the Chlorocebus genus, although it is still debated whether there are several species or only one, with several subspecies.
They are native to the African continent, and can be found as far north as Egypt, and as far south as South Africa. They occupy savanna, open woodland, and forest-grassland mosaic, preferably close to rivers, being generally absent from desert areas and deep forest. It's a common and abundant species; flexible and easily adapted to secondary and highly fragmented vegetation, including cultivated areas and rural and urban environments, where it is often considered a pest, which gets them hunted and shot, causing many babies to become orphaned. In some areas, they become bushmeat.

Vervet Monkeys live in large troops of up to 38 individuals, with one dominant male. The females are usually related to one another, but many unrelated males may be present.

With a life-span of 10 to 11 years, females become sexually mature at age four, and males at age five. They breed from April to June, and a single offspring is born five months later.