Although no images have been discovered, some people think the mysterious animal is a rhesus macaque.
Moose, bears, and bald eagles are just a few of the charismatic animals that can be found in Maine. But this week, a monkey was reportedly spotted wandering the streets of Portland, surprising locals.
According to NECN, the animal was seen by numerous people on Monday and Wednesday close to Tandem Coffee + Bakery on Congress Street. During this week’s closing, a witness who worked at the coffee shop told the station that she saw the monkey. It was sitting on a dumpster and seemed “mangy.”
Another resident, Anna McMurchy, wrote about her experience in a Facebook post. A small animal ran across the road in front of her car on Monday as she was driving a friend to the bus stop, according to McMurchy. When McMurchy got closer, he realized it wasn’t a squirrel at all, but instead had a “round head, funny ears, and a little skinny tail.”
Although McMurchy was unable to capture a picture of the animal because it vanished so quickly, she thinks it was a baby rhesus macaque. According to the scientific journal Nature, this species is frequently used in biomedical research because it is closely related to humans and simple to raise in captivity.
According to The Bangor Daily News, there hasn’t been any photographic proof of the rogue ape yet, but McMurchy’s post sparked other anecdotes of possible monkey sightings nearby.
According to state officials in Maine, owning a monkey is illegal unless you’re a researcher or an exhibitor. For both, bringing the monkey into the state would require a permit.
