Monkeys don’t naturally occur in the United States. The closest they get is Mexico, where you might see spider monkeys and howler monkeys in and around the Yucatan.
But the population of free-ranging rhesus monkeys in Florida is growing, and depending on who you believe, the monkeys were either escapees from the 1933 filming of a Tarzan movie titled “Tarzan Finds a Son,” or intentionally released by the manager of the jungle cruise boat ride at Silver Springs.
By 1984, the upper Silver River population consisted of some 400 animals.
These monkeys forage for themselves on a wide variety of native plants and tourist handouts. Tourists who spot the animals while canoeing or kayaking on some these rivers shouldn’t try to feed them. No matter how cute they look, it’s against the law to feed them and they can be very aggressive, especially when it comes to food.
Source: Wild Florida