Karoo Vervet monkeys, like many old-world monkeys, have cheek pouches to store food. These are as the name suggests small pouches in the sides of the mouth. This comes in handy when the monkeys are foraging in a plentiful area.

Storing extra food means an easy snack plus avoiding another trip back to the food source. Cindy, pictured here, has definitely had her fill of acacia seeds. Often we see monkeys at Samara, especially younger ones, with their pouches stuffed like Cindy and sometimes it can even make them hard to identify as it changes their face shape so much.

Low ranked monkeys can also grab a take-away and run in and fill up quickly on a good food source and run off and eat it in peace away from more dominant individuals. This means they can get the benefits of the highly prized food without getting aggression. But they better time it well as if they get caught in the good food patch they might be in some trouble!

Until next time,

Stephen and the Verveteers

The Vervet Monkey research project is a collaboration between a number of international universities. The project has been based at Samara Private Game Reserve in the Great Karoo since 2008. The aim of the project is to investigate the adaptations of these fascinating monkeys to climatic changes.

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