FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A colony of wild monkeys in Dania Beach soon may get a permanent home, complete with fences, medical care and regular meals.
But the creation of a monkey sanctuary east of the Fort Lauderdale airport may mark the beginning of the end of a bizarre wildlife population that has survived on a wedge of swampy forest for more than 70 years.
Dania Beach Vervet Project, a nonprofit organization, is negotiating with Hertz Corp. to lease 3.75 acres next to a rental car facility to house 17 of the 45 or so African Vervet monkeys in the group. With a fenced facility, they could legally take care of the monkeys, providing them with food and veterinary care, which wouldn’t otherwise be possible under state law since they’re a nonnative species.