Monkey selfies! Monkey steals camera and takes selfies
It’s a monkey selfie! Who knew primates had photography skills? A monkey stole a wildlife photographer’s camera. Then he started taking monkey selfies! He even smiled in the photos.
The crested black macaque monkey (black ape) swiped the camera and took monkey self-portraits at arms length, like you’d see on a teenage girl’s Facebook or Instagram page. It’s a monkey selfie!
Monkey selfies!
It happened when wildlife photographer David Slater was visiting a national park in North Sulawesi, Indonesia. He left his camera unattended. Next, a crested black macaque monkey grabbed it and proceeded take monkey selfies. Who knew “black apes” took selfies? It’s actually a decent monkey self-portrait!
If you’re curious, I found out some interesting facts about these inquisitive monkeys below:
great shot of a Crested black Macaque. I love his expression
Some crested black macaque facts:
They’re promiscuous – with both males and females mating multiple times with multiple partners
They live in groups, and tend to either be all males or be 4:1 females to males.
Their diet is 70% fruits
They’re extremely rare and critically endangered
They’re found in Sulawesi, an island in Indonesia, and some tiny islands near it
Many names — crested black macaque, Sulawesi black macaque, Celebes crested macaque, Sulawesi crested macaque, or the black ape. Scientific name: Macaca nigra
I love his expression in this portrait! photo by Sean Crane
I love his expression in the above monkey self-portrait; it reminds me of the closeups of long-tailed macaques that I snapped in Malaysia.
Macaques can be unpredictable (like these monkeys having sex while I was photographing the view of the Ulu Watu cliffs in Indonesia).
From the photographer’s own words
The sound got his attention and he kept pressing it. At first it scared the rest of them away but they soon came back. It was amazing to watch. He must have taken hundreds of pictures by the time I got my camera back, but not very many were in focus. He obviously hadn’t worked that out yet.
The Instagram-style monkey selfies photos were actually taken by the monkey. Thanks to wildlife photographer David Slater for allowing us to share them. The two (above) impressive photos on this page were by wildlife photographer Sean Crane.
photo from David Slater, taken by this crested black monkey
Other primates from my travels:
I was amazed how the mannerisms can be so similar to humans. They’re technically less closely related to humans than orangutans. I was surprised by how human-like proboscis monkey behavior could be. The baby monkeys (long-tailed macaques) in Borneo were cute, but the tarsiers (aka “Gremlins”) still may have been the cutest primates I’ve seen in person.
this shot reminds me of a teenage girl taking Instagram or Facebook selfie pics
Original story from Daily Telegraph. Thanks to Grace for sending me the story.
Sulawesi monkey steals a camera and snaps his new profile pic, a monkey self-portrait
This is a story about accidentally seeing monkey sex in Bali. Wildlife can be unpredictable. They jump into your photos for surprising photo bombs. This is one of those crazy examples, where monkeys having sex joined my photo of beautiful Ulu Watu .
Accidentally photographing monkey sex
We were enjoying the view from the cliffs of Ulu Watu in Bali. It was a beautiful moment until…a slight interruption. Just then it occurred to me that I was surrounded by monkeys. And, they seized the moment.
I was photographing a monkey on the edge of the cliff. Then, another jumped on her from behind. After that, two other monkeys started having sex too. Then two more. Where am I?? Surprise – monkey sex. I suddenly had a monkey orgy or sorts in front of me.
Mommy, where do baby monkeys come from?
These monkeys are in their natural habitat, so anything goes. For example, see the ones in this first photo.
“What, you’ve never seen monkeys having sex?”
a Discovery Channel moment for the monkeys having sex in Bali
Forget doggystyle – this is monkey style! Looks like they’re ready to make baby monkeys!
Monkey Sex has other meanings
Edit: Monkey sex is a slang term, as reported on Urban Dictionary.
“The communal act of rough …wild …passionate…primatial fornication. It’s usually accompanied with various vocal tones and frantic leg humping. Usually seen and heard from orangutans.”
A reader said it reminds her of this video from Gawker, with monkey sex on the hood of a car.
Mating behavior
These monkeys are macaques. They’re known to have dominant males that try to monopolize females. This is an example of that. Interestingly enough, “promiscuity benefits females and subordinate males.”
Also, “one way to escape monopolization by dominant males is to copulate in their absence.” This is called the “audience effect.” This info on monkeys having sex is from an article in the American Journal of Primatology.
For more posts about monkeys in the wild, I’ve set up a link here. Learn about:
