A Citrus County landmark is turning to its community, not the government, to secure its future. The Historic Monkey Island board will hold its annual fundraiser Monday, Nov. 9, at Crump’s Landing, with 100% of proceeds going to the care and upkeep of the island’s primates.
The attraction has been a fixture of the Homosassa community for about 60 years. Just a short boat ride from the Monkey Bar, it is the adopted home of spider monkeys Ralph and Emily.
“It’s a historical site,” said Marie Straight, secretary of the Historic Monkey Island Board. “It’s been here since the early 1960s, as best that we can determine.”
Straight said a local developer, G.A. Furgason, created the island unintentionally while building Homosassa Springs Park. The monkeys were brought to the island to help with polio vaccine research, she said, and the water served as a natural barrier.
“They can swim, but they don’t like water,” Straight said.
The island lost a longtime resident five months ago, when Ebony died at age 28. Since then, the board has been weighing how to keep the attraction going. Straight said any new arrivals must be handled carefully.
“We have to be strategic in how we acquire these monkeys,” she said. “We can’t just drop young, energetic monkeys onto the island with two geriatric primates.”
The board is working with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Straight said, and hopes to bring in one or two new residents sometime next year. Proceeds from the fundraiser will help staff care for the animals.
Staff say the monkeys draw locals and visitors. Noah Emery, marina manager at Monkey Island Riverside Resort, said the animals’ favorite treat is sweet potatoes. He also recalled a woman who told the restaurant next door she had come on her first date with her husband at the island and has returned every year since.
“I think it’s a big pillar in the community,” Emery said.
Straight said the goal is to keep the island going for the long haul.
“We want to be thinking about the future because this is a community treasure that we hope to evolve into perpetuity,” she said.
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