Most visitors never meet most of this. Florida is a big state and its wildlife changes a lot from region to region - a cane toad is a South Florida backyard problem, a black bear is a central and north Florida one, and a crocodile only matters in the far south. These guides are here for the encounter you do have, not because one is likely.
Yes, there are wild monkeys at Silver Springs State Park near Ocala, and yes, you can visit with a dog – but keep the dog on a short leash, keep your distance, and never feed them. Rhesus macaques are nonnative, established, wild, capable of biting and scratching, and known carriers of herpes B virus, which is rarely a problem for people but potentially deadly when it is.
How monkeys ended up on the Silver River
The popular story is that the monkeys escaped during the filming of a Tarzan movie. According to UF/IFAS, that is folklore. The macaques were already at Silver Springs before the 1939 film “Tarzan Finds a Son,” and none of them appeared in it.
What actually happened is a Florida tourism story. In the mid-1930s, Colonel Tooey, who ran the glass-bottom boat operation, released roughly six rhesus macaques on an island in the Silver River to give boat passengers something to look at. Rhesus macaques are strong swimmers, and they promptly left the island for the surrounding forest. UF/IFAS says about six more were released on the north shore of the river around 1948.
Where the monkeys are now, and how many
From that handful, the population grew to 78 animals in two groups by 1968 and to nearly 400 along the Silver River by the 1980s, spreading into the forests of the Ocklawaha River. Large numbers were trapped and removed between 1984 and 2012, most of them sent to biomedical research, until public controversy ended the program.
The most recent estimates in UF/IFAS publications put about 175 macaques in five groups within the park in 2015, with the population growing, and a 2018 study counting at least 134 monkeys in six groups ranging at least 12.4 miles north and 6.8 miles south along the rivers. The exact current population is not known. If you are on the Silver River, the Ocklawaha River corridor or the land around them, a monkey sighting is possible, including outside the park boundaries.
Silver Springs is not Florida’s only monkey story. There are vervet monkeys in Dania Beach and a dwindling group of squirrel monkeys in Fort Lauderdale; see our guides to wild monkeys in Florida and vervet monkeys in South Florida. But unlike several monkey populations that have faded out elsewhere in Florida, the Silver Springs macaques have persisted for decades.
Herpes B virus: the real reason for distance
Rhesus macaques can carry macaque herpesvirus 1, usually called herpes B or B virus. It does not make the monkeys sick. A 2018 study published by the CDC in Emerging Infectious Diseases found that about a quarter of the Silver Springs macaques captured between 2000 and 2012 carried antibodies to the virus, and that some monkeys were shedding it in saliva during the fall 2015 mating season. No shedding was seen in spring or summer.
Human infection is rare. UF/IFAS says there has never been a confirmed report of a person catching herpes B from a wild macaque; known human cases come from laboratory settings. But in people it is severe – the CDC study notes that roughly half of untreated human infections cause fatal brain inflammation. That is why the rule is no touching, no feeding and no getting close enough for a bite or scratch, especially in the fall.
We could not find reliable evidence on herpes B risk to dogs, so we will not guess. The concern for a dog is the bite itself.
Feeding wild monkeys is illegal in Florida
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission made it illegal to feed wild monkeys in 2018. The FWC rule counts not just handing out food, but placing food or garbage – or allowing it to be placed – in a way that attracts them. FWC’s reasoning is that feeding encourages monkeys to approach people and pets and can make them aggressive, raising the risk of bites, scratches and disease. UF/IFAS records at least 18 reported macaque bite or scratch incidents in Florida.
So do not toss them a snack from the boat, do not leave a cooler open at a picnic table near the river, and pack out your trash. If you see someone feeding monkeys, you can report it to the FWC Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-3922.
Dogs and macaques: keep it boring
A macaque that feels threatened will defend itself, and rhesus macaques have strong jaws and long canine teeth. Dogs trigger that by barking, lunging, chasing or cornering an animal.
Use a short, fixed leash – Florida State Parks limits leashes to six feet – and do not use a long retractable leash anywhere monkeys might be. If a troop appears:
- Bring the dog to your side and hold the leash short.
- Calmly increase your distance. Do not run.
- Do not block the monkeys’ path or get between a mother and her young.
- Do not stop for a close photo.
- If the dog is getting worked up, leave. The monkeys will not.
The safest views are distant ones: from a trail with space to back away, from a boat, or from the opposite riverbank. Let the monkeys control the distance.
If anyone gets bitten or scratched
If a person is bitten or scratched, clean the wound immediately and thoroughly and seek medical care right away. UF/IFAS says anyone bitten or scratched should get immediate care and follow CDC guidance, and the CDC treats macaque bites and scratches seriously because of B virus exposure.
If your dog is bitten, control any bleeding with firm pressure from a clean cloth and get to a veterinarian or emergency vet promptly. Even setting disease aside, a macaque bite can cause deep puncture wounds, tissue damage and infection. Do not handle the dog’s wound with bare hands if it may have monkey saliva on it, and tell the vet what bit the dog.
Never try to rescue, capture, move or treat an injured monkey yourself.
Visiting Silver Springs with a dog
Silver Springs can still be a worthwhile pet-friendly nature outing when current park rules allow what you plan to do. Florida State Parks generally keeps pets out of swimming areas, off boardwalks and away from boat launches and other water areas at inland rivers and springs, partly because alligators see pets as prey, so check the park’s current rules before you go.
Just do not build the day around getting your dog close to monkeys. For more on sharing Florida’s wild places with a dog, see the complete guide to Florida wildlife with pets, our Florida wildlife emergency checklist and Florida birds dogs should never chase.
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