Soon they began fighting to determine who would rule the roost.

Not used to being in direct sunlight, they jumped when they saw their shadows. At first, they were confused and huddled together in small groups. The monkeys could easily swim in the moat, but a wall at its far end kept them from escaping.Īpproximately 17 male monkeys were placed on the island. The 70-by-90-foot island was surrounded by a moat 20 feet wide and filled with shallow water. It was made up of large rocks laid in cement and topped with three trees, two of which were artificial. That changed when the zoo's new 'monkey island' opened on August 13. Their frantic antics thrill zoo goers, make front page news in The Seattle Times, attract some of the largest crowds in the zoo's history to that time, and provide a welcome distraction from the war in Europe.īefore August 1940, monkeys at the Woodland Park Zoo were kept in separate cages and were rarely exposed to each other. Approximately 17 monkeys, freed from their cages and placed on a communal 'monkey island' at the zoo, battle each other to determine who will be supreme simian of the isle. On August 15, 1940, monkey mania erupts at Woodland Park Zoo.

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