Monkeys are opportunistic eaters, seeking out whatever is available in their habitats to give them the quick fruit sugar, carbohydrates, fiber and animal protein they need. They’ll eat whatever fruits and leaves are easily accessible, as well as fungi, roots, bark, insects, birds’ eggs and other small animals.
Some monkeys, like howler and colobus monkeys, have special anatomy to help them exploit their environment’s buffet of foods. They have long digestive tracts for absorbing hard-to-digest leaf nutrients and multi-chambered stomachs that allow for the specialized fermentation of plant matter, similar to the way in which ruminants digest their food. Other monkeys, like geladas, graze on grass.
They’ll also scavenge food from human settlements or farms, and hunt for insects on the ground and in trees. This flexibility to eat anything they need gives them the ability to survive anywhere in the world.
A balanced diet of fruit, vegetables, protein and other good ingredients will keep monkeys healthy, strong and ready for action. Sufficient water intake keeps them hydrated and ready for tree climbing, swimming and other exciting activities.
When a baby monkey sees his mother put something in her mouth, his brain triggers “mirror neurons,” which cause him to reach for and put a crumb in his own mouth. His brain gets a dopamine boost from that action, and he wants to repeat it. That’s the power of reinforcement training—and it works just as well in a monkey as it does with humans!