Snares I found this collection of snares in our monkey office on my last trip to Kenya. The tiny loops at the end of the string are fastened to a bent tree branch and secured to the ground with a sharpened stick. As the monkeys (or any other animal for that matter) forage through the undergrowth, they inadvertently put their hand or foot through the loop on the ground. This movement causes the string to move, the branch to straighten, and the loop to tighten around whichever unlucky limb is inside the loop. Occasionally the monkeys pull the stick from the ground in their attempt to free themselves and end up with the snare still tied around their wrist. Repeated pulling and biting usually tightens the loop even more. If not removed, the monkeys’ hand eventually falls off, as circulation and blood flow is restricted over a period of several months. Successful snaring has likely been the fate of many study group monkeys whom have disappeared over the last several years. That said, we’ve managed to successfully remove snares from several individuals and re-release them back into their groups.

Snares I found this collection of snares in our monkey office on my last trip to Kenya. The tiny loops at the end of the string are fastened to a bent tree branch and secured to the ground with a sharpened stick. As the monkeys (or any other animal for that matter) forage through the undergrowth, they inadvertently put their hand or foot through the loop on the ground. This movement causes the string to move, the branch to straighten, and the loop to tighten around whichever unlucky limb is inside the loop. Occasionally the monkeys pull the stick from the ground in their attempt to free themselves and end up with the snare still tied around their wrist. Repeated pulling and biting usually tightens the loop even more. If not removed, the monkeys’ hand eventually falls off, as circulation and blood flow is restricted over a period of several months. Successful snaring has likely been the fate of many study group monkeys whom have disappeared over the last several years. That said, we’ve managed to successfully remove snares from several individuals and re-release them back into their groups.