Think of a monkey and a banana pops into your mind. Well, think again: a banana ban has been imposed on monkeys living in a U.K. zoo in order to improve their health and calm them down!
For the scientists behind the peculiar ban, banana-eating monkeys are the equivalent of humans eating too much chocolate.
Monkeys will now have to have a more balanced and nutritious diet, and the sweet and sugary bananas are exactly the opposite.
According to Dr. Amy Plowman, head of conservation and advocacy in the
Paignton Zoo
``Compared to the food they (the monkeys) would eat in the wild, bananas are much more energy-dense they have lots of calories and contain much more sugar that`s bad for their teeth and can lead to diabetes and similar conditions.`It can also cause gastrointestinal problems as their stomachs are mostly adapted to eating fibrous foods with very low digestibility.``
Dr Plowman said also that
``The alternative is vegetables and lots of them, especially leafy green veg. We still use starchy root veg.But we have reduced amounts as it can still be quite high in sugar and other readily-digestible carbohydrate. Leafy green veg is great because it is high in protein, fibre and lots of vitamins and minerals.``
So what the poor monkeys now have to eat at the health-aware zoo?lots of green leafy vegetables, a number of other vegetables and lots of leafy branches for the leaf-eating monkeys... (yummy...)Apparently
though,
Paignton Zoo`s new monkey-diet is already bringing improvements in the mammals` health and also makes them behave better.`We have noticed an improvement in the condition of primate coats in particular the colour and thickness of the fur of the Sulawesi crested black macaques.Reducing the sugar in their diets has calmed them down and made their groups more settled.`` senior head keeper of mammals Matthew Webb said.
In an ever-changing world it seems nothing is the same anymore: not even monkeys eating bananas!..
