AR-News: But what about those monkeys?

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From: primfocus at waste.org

http://www.newtimesbpb.com/issues/2004-03-04/tailpipe.html/1/index.html

If Tailpipe hadn't opened his big cylindrical trap recently about those wild
monkeys in Dania Beach, they might have gone on with their quiet,
low-profile lives -- as quiet and low-profile as any monkeys can live -- on
a marshy 19-acre tract on Dania Beach Boulevard. It's there that a troop of
about 100 dusky-faced vervets swing through scrub pines, entertain the
tourists in the Motel 6 parking lot, and dine on Cheez Doodles and apples
segments left by their fans.

But after Tailpipe remarked on their presence recently, the daily newspapers
waded in with their own stories, and the owner of the property, who has for
a 288-unit project, began to get testy. Ocean Development has been quietly
moving its plan -- including twin 14-story condo towers, which would make it
the tallest residential building in town -- through the land-use process.
The other night, the Dania Beach Commission voted unanimously, without
comment, to rezone the site as a multi-family residential area. Next step:
public comment.

But what about those monkeys?

Nobody is sure about where they came from. Vervets are an African species,
and these may have escaped from an abandoned roadside attraction or a
now-defunct research facility. All anybody really knows is that they've been
there for 50 years and , despite being nearly decimated eight or nine years
ago but a local trapper, they've thrived. Longtime Danians have developed a
sentimental attachment to the little primates, and snow birds escaping the
frigid Midwest often make a point of visiting with them at the Motel 6
fence.

But the monkeys' future is scarily uncertain, according to animal activists.

Not to worry, the site's developers say reassuringly. Less than a quarter of
the site, which is owned by Denver resident Barry Morris, will go for the
condos. The rest, the wetlands part, will remain undeveloped. "Besides,"
says Fort Lauderdale lawyer Bonnie Miskel, who represents the developers,
Charles Putman & Associates , "there's a park next door -- a huge area -- to
which the monkeys can migrate."

Not so fast. That huge park -- West Lake Park, which stretches along the
Intracoastal -- is actually separated from the monkeys' habitat by busy
Dania Beach Boulevard.

"These are smart animals," says Spencer Bruce, a Dania Beach sales
representative who has taken an interest in the monkeys. "Relocating them in
the vicinity is not a good idea. They'll know where they came from and then
they'll be in the position of going through traffic again." As for the idea
of leaving the monkeys on site in the wetlands: "These monkeys live on the
[dry] ground. The only time they go into the trees is for sleep or
protection."

City officials are unconcerned. "Nothing's set in concrete that I'm aware
of," Mayor Robert Anton says. Development director Laurence Leeds adds that,
no matter what happens, the monkeys will be taken care of. "We have an
animal relocation ordinance that applies to all development impacting wooded
areas," he says.

Tailpipe would feel a lot better about the future of those cute critters if
they lived anywhere but Dania Beach, which has shown recently that all
things are possible for developers with big plans. Last year, Miami
developers MKN Investors, which is building a 427-townhouse complex on
Griffin Road, wanted to speed up the review process, so they "donated"
$250,000 to the city. The money went into a "contingency" fund, part of
which went straight to the commissioners for opting out of an employee
health insurance program -- and MKN got its speed-up.

And guess who's about to assume the reins as Dania Beach Mayor in a few
weeks? C.K. McElyea. That's right, the owner of Mac's Towing, who made New
Times' list of the 2003 Dirty Dozen, for negotiating city contracts with the
Broward Sheriff's Office at the same time his company was under contract
with BSO to tow illegally parked cars.

As far as the monkeys are concerned, they're suddenly nowhere to be found.
"I haven't seen them in two weeks," Bruce says. Probably just roamin'. But
the scary thing is that Dania Beach's favorite vervets could be
"disappeared" overnight and, because there's no state law protecting them,
no one would have to answer for removing them.


the wild, cruel beast is not behind the bars of the cage. he is in front of it - axel munthe

"Never doubt that a small group of dedicated citizens can change the world. 
Indeed, it's the only thing that ever has."      Margaret Mead
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