Cuddly Monkeys Manage To Fight Off Attacking Boa
Indiana Jones may have found it very difficult to deal with snakes, however it would seem that Coquerel’s sifakas know exactly what to do. These primates live in Madagascar and last year, one of them was attacked by a large snake known as the Madagascar ground boa. The other members of her troop were not impressed and attacked the snake leaving it with wounds that were severe enough to kill it.
Big George and the attack
The snake attack was seen by four local hotel workers last year and they described what they saw to researchers from the University of Kent in Canterbury. According to the hotel workers the snake had lived in the area for over ten years and was a female that measured 2.7 metres long they liked to call “Big George”. The workers said they saw Big George attack a female Coquerel’s sifaka which was a member of a troop of eight. The snake coiled itself quickly around the hapless monkey. Upon seeing this the other sifakas launched a counter offensive, surrounding the snake, biting and scratching it. The attack lasted for about 20 minutes, at which point the boa loosened its grip on the sifaka. The released monkey then turned around and bit the snake on its head, damaging the snake’s lower jaw. The snake was left unable to close its mouth and retreated into some close by vegetation. The victorious sifakas surrounded the female and started to lick her wounds.
The snake was not so lucky
The sifaka ultimately gave birth to an infant just six months after the attack suggesting it had not caused her too much harm. Big George however was not so lucky. Aside from the scratch and bite marks, she suffered a fractured lower jaw. When staff found her just a few days after the attack, her mouth was hanging open. For the next couple of months the snake remained in the same spot on the grounds of the hotel. On 20th May 2014 Big George was found dead and it would seem the injuries caused by the sifakas attack had proven fatal.
Coquerel’s Sifakas, Ankarafantsika National Park, Madagascar by Frank Vassen, on Flickr
