History: Monkeys & Boars

History: Monkeys and Boars. Historic Florida Barge Canal Trail. Tarzan Did It. A legend has been passed along over the decades that the wild monkeys around Silver Spring State Park got there because of competition swimmer-actor Johnny Weismuller. He starred in Tarzan Finds a Son! (1939), which was filmed in that area. The truth: Seventeen monkeys were brought to Devil's Island in 1938, and promptly swam across the river to live in the woods near Silver Springs. Today there are colonies of more than 400 rhesus macaque critters in the region around Silver Springs State Park., Originally from the Philippine Islands, in the Pacific southeast of Mainland China, the monkeys were brought to Florida by a man popularly known as "Colonel Tooey" who wanted to enhance his Jungle Cruise boat rides on the Silver Springs River. However, the monkeys may soon be history. Officials of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission have determined that some of the rhesus carry a potentially dangerous herpes B virus. The commission is now developing a plan for removing them., Snorting, Rooting and Wallowing. Wild Boars, known as feral (free-ranging) hogs or swine, came from domesticated stock brought (it is said) to America by Spanish explorer Hernando de Sota in 1539. Today, it's estimated there are half-a-million wild boar in Florida. The state is a perfect habitat for these swine., Wild boar prefer marshes, hammocks (stands of trees that form a natural island), ponds and drainage areas. Although they like dense brush where there's limited human disturbance in woods, fields and wetlands, they'll also venture into populated areas in search of food., A mature (six months) female can grow to 200 lbs. and 5-6 feet long. She'll be fast-producing, having 2-3 litters a year with up to five piglets in a litter. Wild boar are found on the Greenway west of Route 200, and on the adjacent Halpata Tastanaki Preserve, between the Ross Prairie and Pruitt Trailheads of the Florida Trail.