The expanding human population and encroachment into wild areas increasingly puts humans and vervet

monkeys in contact. In urban environments, human-monkey conflict often arises as monkeys become

reliant on anthropogenic resources and thus, engage in conflict driving behaviours such as house and

garden raiding [6-8]. Similarly, in rural areas, monkeys exploit agricultural land by crop raiding. This behaviour enables monkeys to obtain an abundance of food with a high-energy content which requires less energy expenditure to locate, handle, and digest than wild foods [4,9-10]. Although this behaviour proves to be an efficient foraging strategy for monkeys, it threatens the livelihoods of subsistence farmers and farmers that rely on selling crops for their income [1].

Living in close proximity to humans can lead to vervet monkeys being killed or injured because of persecution by farmers and homeowners, including by poisoning, shooting, and trapping [11], hunting for bushmeat, electrocution, and vehicle collision [1,6,8]. Additionally, the capture of vervet monkeys for the exotic pet trade is a persisting problem despite the trade in non-human primates being illegal in a number of African countries [1,12]. The capture and transportation of live monkeys for the pet trade and the inadequate care given to pet monkeys, who have complex social, physical, and psychological needs, gives rise to poor standards of animal welfare [13]. 
 

Sanctuaries, such as the Wild Animal Trauma Centre and Haven and the Vervet Monkey Foundation, conduct important work to rehabilitate and release wild monkeys that have been injured or orphaned as a result of human activities, and ex-pet monkeys that have been handed in [1,12]. To reduce the number of monkeys requiring these sanctuaries, education and outreach programmes could be employed in target areas. Such programmes could address people’s ‘pest’ perception of monkeys, and people's lack of understanding of the implications for monkeys' welfare of keeping them as pets [1]. Furthermore, restoring and protecting the natural habitats of monkeys, which have been lost largely due to urban and rural expansion, could serve as an effective preventative measure for human-monkey conflict (see the work done by the Tanzania Forest Conservation Group and the World Land Trust) [8]. By conserving their natural habitat and enhancing natural food resource availability, and consequently reducing monkeys’ dependence on anthropogenic food resources, monkeys’ contact with humans could be reduced [8]. To find out more about some organisations that help to protect vervet monkeys, and to donate to their cause if you would like to do so, check out the charity links on the right.