Monkeys are quiet most of the time while they perform their most common social activities: foraging and grooming one another. However:
- They are all collectively loud just before meals (primate “cheers” from excitement). In addition to the food enrichment (i.e., snacks) that they receive throughout the day, the monkeys are fed full meals twice daily – once in the morning and once at night. They are fed indoors, though, so their vocalizations are not audible from outside.
- They can be loud when encountering a disruption of some kind like a train or a flock of birds, as they may emit a few warning calls to each other.
- They are loud when there is a conflict in the group, but these conflicts are usually brief and sorted out within a few minutes.
We have attempted to minimize noise by:
- Building enclosures as far in from the perimeter of the property as possible.
- Planting more trees around the enclosures and perimeter of the property to serve as additional noise barriers.
- Housing the monkeys indoors at night so no outside noise will be heard after 5pm.