Primates Facts

The world's heaviest primates are morbidly obese humans, who can weigh over 1,000 pounds. After that come gorillas, the largest non-human primates, with males weighing up to 440 pounds in the wild.

Male monkeys lose the hair on their heads in the same way men do.

A male baboon can kill a leopard.

Bonobos are one of the few species where bisexual behavior is the norm, with nearly all adult females engaging in frequent same-sex sexual interactions!

There’s a bonobo named Kanzi who has learned to build a campfire and cook his own food.

In order to enhance the taste, Japanese macaque wash their food in salt water before they eat. They also make snowballs for fun!

Lemurs chew toxic millipedes and rub the secretions on their fur to repel mosquitoes, but the side effects accidentally send them to another dimension.

In 1996, a 3-year-old boy climbed a barrier at Brookfield Zoo and fell 24 feet into the gorilla enclosure. He was unconscious. An 8-year-old gorilla named Binti Jua picked him up, cradled him against her body, and carried him to the enclosure door where keepers could reach him. Her own 17-month-old baby, Koola, clung to her back the entire time. The boy spent four days in hospital and made a full recovery. Binti Jua is still alive at Brookfield Zoo — now a grandmother.