May 1 (UPI) -- Residents of a Florida neighborhood reported sightings of a monkey on the loose, prompting officials to warn locals to keep their distance.
The Sullivan Ranch neighborhood homeowners association in Mount Dora sent a warning to area residents this week reporting that some locals had seen the money near a retention pond and in back yards along Sullivan Ranch Road.
The HOA warned locals not to attempt to approach or capture the loose primate.
The email said local animal control officials are investigating the sightings.
The monkey reports come almost exactly a year after a string of monkey sightings across Lake County.
Naxel Miranda captured video of a monkey while he was picking up his daughter from South Lake High School in May 2024.
Monkeys are not native to Florida, but a population of rhesus macaque monkeys have lived in the wild in the state for decades. Most of the monkeys live in and around Silver Springs State Park, which is about 50 miles from Mount Dora.
