The Scariest Animal at Boskoppie: Api the Vervet Monkey

While working at Boskoppie I encountered many vicious and ferocious animals, but without a doubt the scariest animal was the owner’s pet monkey Api. On the first day I thought the monkey was cute and was so excited to share my breakfast with her. On the third day when she stole my yogurt off my plate I was a little pissed off. On the fourth day when she raised her eyebrows and puffed out her chest at me while I was trying to feed the lion cubs I knew I was in big trouble. Api rules the sanctuary and she knows it, she can go anywhere and do anything. Sometimes I could scare her off by stomping my feet, but other times it just made her mad and she would lunge. As I mentioned she was the scariest animal there because she had bigger teeth than the cubs and a bite from her meant diseases so I wanted to keep far away. I did get slapped a few times, but managed to run away before she landed a bite. One night when I was moving the cubs from their day enclosure to the nursery she started raising her eyebrows at me, which I knew meant trouble so I started to move faster and she grabbed my ponytail. The last day when I went to say goodbye to the cubs she swooped down and tried to attack me, her teeth actually brushed the top of my hand, but luckily it didn’t break skin. Like I said…evil menace monkey!