Printable Vervet Monkey Mask

printable vervet monkey mask for kids

Cheeky, clever and one of Africa's most entertaining primates - our printable vervet monkey mask is a brilliant safari choice! The vervet is one of the most studied monkeys in the world, famous for its complex social life and its remarkable alarm call system. With that distinctive greyish coat and expressive face, this mask captures all that lively, inquisitive vervet energy perfectly. Perfect for African animals school plays, primates classroom projects, World Book Day, birthday parties, and mischievously clever imaginative play.

The vervet monkey is a favourite subject of animal behaviour research - its alarm calls are so specific that scientists regard them as the closest thing to language found in a non-human primate, making it a brilliant classroom talking point. Every mask comes with a full colour version AND a black and white line art version for colouring in.

5 Interesting Facts About Vervet Monkeys!

  • Vervet monkeys have distinct alarm calls for different predators - one call for eagles (causing other vervets to look up and hide under bushes), a different one for snakes (causing them to stand upright and look at the ground), and another for leopards (sending them up into trees).
  • Young vervets must learn the meaning of these calls - newborns make alarm calls at the wrong things (like falling leaves or harmless birds), gradually learning accuracy by watching adult responses over several months.
  • They are one of the few non-human primates known to have a rudimentary understanding of social status - vervets know not just their own rank but the relationships between other members of the troop.
  • Vervet monkeys have colonised the Caribbean - descendants of animals brought to St Kitts by slavers in the 17th century have thrived there for 350 years, now numbering more than the human population of some islands.
  • They self-medicate with plants - vervets have been observed eating specific plants when ill that contain compounds with antiparasitic or antimicrobial properties, demonstrating a basic form of medicinal knowledge.