Mona Monkeys

The Grand Etang reserve is the best place in Grenada to see mona monkeys — sand-coloured West African monkeys with white belly fur and a long tail, weighing about 5 kilos. Troops of half a dozen to twenty animals are common around the visitor centre, on the lake circuit, and at the head of the Seven Sisters trail.

The monkeys are habituated to people and will come down for fruit, especially bananas — guides and stalls at the visitor centre often have some for sale. They will take food from your hand if you hold it still. They are not aggressive but they are wild animals: do not chase them, do not provoke them, and keep your bag closed. The best chances of sightings are in the early morning and late afternoon when the troops are most active in feeding.

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The mona monkey — Cercopithecus mona — is native to West Africa, not the Caribbean. The Grenadian population descends from animals brought across the Atlantic during the slave trade, probably as pets or ship's mascots, and released or escaped into the forest. They have thrived; the reserve population now numbers in the hundreds and they are the most likely large mammal a visitor will see.

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