Friends in the jungle friends and I got this baby spider monkey off a guy who stole him from the jungle and wanted to sell him to those people who take photos of tourists with wild animals on their shoulders.

We knew that after he was separated from his mother and the group it was impossible to re-introduce him to the wild because the other monkeys would not have accepted him anymore.

So we took him in and we cared for him for a few months while we were looking for a suitable place. We took shifts throughout the days and nights so that he could always be on someone’s body, just as he would have been with his mother. We mostly were half naked during our shifts because of course he was not potty trained and just went when he had to.

He long since lives in a sanctuary now, but I still can sometimes feel his little tail around my neck while he was sleeping on my shoulder and I miss him dearly. I am also very grateful for the experience and whenever I have monkeys swinging by my hut I feel connected to them since I was allowed to be a surrogate parent to one of their own.

For more stories from the jungle:

http://mmaurus.com

https://www.facebook.com/mikemaurus

Instagram: @michaelmaurus

Twitter: @michaelmaurus