Video: Florida man shares video of swinging, jumping, swimming monkeys

Silver Springs, Fla. — It looks like a scene from the Amazon, but the video of wild monkey jumping into the water from trees was taken on the Silver River in Marion County.

Rod Guynn, of Ocala, grabbed his camera when he saw the group of rhesus monkeys while kayaking last week.

He shared the video on YouTube.

The monkeys were jumping into the water and swimming across the river.

Experts estimate that about 300 rhesus monkeys live in Silver Springs State Park and the population is rapidly growing - their numbers could double in the next five years!

They are native to south and southeast Asia, but National Geographic reports they arrived in Marion County when a tour boat operator known as "Colonel Tooey" released six rhesus macaques onto a small island in 1938 hoping to create a Tarzan-themed attraction.

Immediately there was a problem, because unbeknownst to Tooey the monkeys were strong swimmers and escaped.

By the 1980’s the monkey’s had spread out across the 5,000-acre park.

An attempt to reduce their population through sterilization and removal ended in 2012 when the public discovered the monkeys were being taken from the park and sold, according to National Geographic.

Animal experts believe about 30 percent of the species carries a rare and deadly herpes B virus which can cause an cause inflammation of the brain and spinal cord and also could lead to brain damage or death.

It is rare for the Herpes B virus to spread from monkeys to humans, but the report says the rhesus monkey is not afraid of humans and can be “pretty nasty.”