I've always loved all kinds of animals and was excited to meet the monkeys in their natural habitat! There were so many, and they were not shy at all: riding on our shoulders, pulling peanuts out of our hands, and following us down the jungle trail. It was great fun, but I could see being a bit scared if I wasn't with a guide.
I love seeing the packs of Patas in the fields surrounding my town. They are so cute, carrying their little babies as they cross the roads in packs.
The Sahel region boasts savannah and farmlands that the Patas monkeys call home. They inhabit much more than just Senegal, as they live in packs in many countries in West Africa.
These primates are omnivores and eat fruits, leaves, seeds, flowers, and grasses, but also insects, bird eggs, lizards, and even fish or small mammals. The habitats they live in are very important. The baboons living along the banks of the river may have more of a chance of eating some sea life, while the Patas monkeys in the savannah often resort to stealing the food from the fields that farmers are growing. They sleep in trees.
Farmers will use rifles and slingshots to kill or deter the Patas monkeys from inhabiting their fields and stealing food. Lions, cheetahs, African hunting dogs, jackals, brown hyenas, spotted hyenas, snakes, and raptors are all predators of Patas monkeys, though very little of each of these exists in Senegal. The hunting dogs are semi-prevalent. We don't have cause for concern at this time.
