Otters and Monkeys: Frolic in the forest
One of the San Diego Zoo’s most entertaining places to watch inter-species interactions is at the otter and monkey exhibit. Designed to complement the overall look and feeling of an African habitat, you can see swamp monkeys and spot-nosed guenons play “grab-the-tail” with spotted-necked otters, groom them, and occasionally even hitch a quick ride on the otters’ backs as they swim by!
For their part, the otters climb low-lying trees and appear to enjoy “monkeying” around with their simian friends. An otter will roll over and bump a relaxing swamp monkey, for example. Then, when the monkey tries to grab its tail, the otter quickly rolls away, and then back again, as if tantalizing the monkey to catch it. You can often see guenons and swamp monkeys playing together, swinging around in the trees high above the frolicking otters.
The exhibit is divided into two parts, with a pedestrian bridge in the middle. From here you can look on either side to see where the action is at the moment. One of the exhibit’s pools is right up against the viewing glass, so you may see an otter gliding past you or a monkey making a big splash—all in good fun!
