Classroom lesson · Wildlife · 🇰🇳 Saint Kitts and Nevis

Vervet Monkey

Cheeky, clever monkeys that roam freely all over both islands

Photo · Wikimedia Commons

What is it?

Vervet monkeys are small, lively monkeys with grey-green fur, black faces, and bright eyes. They live wild all over Saint Kitts and Nevis, leaping through rainforest trees, sitting on stone walls, raiding fruit trees, and occasionally sneaking up on tourists to steal snacks! There are so many of them on the islands that they outnumber the people.

Tell me more

Vervet monkeys originally come from Africa, and they were brought to the Caribbean hundreds of years ago. They found the tropical islands perfect for living in and their numbers grew and grew. Today they are one of the most commonly seen animals on Saint Kitts and Nevis — you are almost guaranteed to spot one on any walk through the countryside.

These monkeys are very social and live in groups called troops. A troop can have anywhere from 10 to 50 individuals. They look after each other — adults watch out for young ones, and they all make alarm calls to warn the group when they sense something unfamiliar nearby. Baby vervet monkeys are adorable, clinging to their mothers as she leaps from branch to branch.

Vervets are clever problem-solvers. They have been observed learning to open bins, turn on outdoor taps, and find food in the most unexpected places. Locals know to keep fruit well out of reach because a determined vervet monkey is very hard to outsmart. Their hands look remarkably like human hands, with individual fingers perfect for grabbing and inspecting things.

Scientists study the vervet monkeys of Saint Kitts and Nevis because they have lived on the islands for so long that they have developed some slightly different behaviours from African vervets. This makes them interesting for understanding how animals adapt to new places over many generations.

In the classroom

Walk your class through this in 15 minutes.

Talk together

Discussion prompts

01Vervet monkeys originally came from Africa and now live wild in the Caribbean. How do you think they got there?
02They live in troops and look after each other. What other animals live in social groups like this?
03Vervet monkeys make alarm calls to warn each other. Do any other animals communicate warnings to their group?
04Why do you think scientists are interested in how animals change their behaviour when they move to a new place?

Try this

Classroom activity

Draw a vervet monkey troop of 8 monkeys in a rainforest tree. Give each monkey a role: a mother with a baby, a lookout on the highest branch, two young monkeys playing, one eating fruit, and two grooming each other. Label each one with their role.

More about Saint Kitts and Nevis

Other things that make Saint Kitts and Nevis special

Want your class to meet Saint Kitts and Nevis?

Pick Saint Kitts and Neviswhen you register and we’ll show you the time-zone feasibility.

Register your classroom