Zoo won't allow seeing what monkeys do

EVANSVILLE, Ind. -- No jokes, please, about monkey business, because the fate of an entire species could hang in the balance.

Ivy Tech Community College professor Sue Donaldson and six student volunteers want after-hours admission into an Evansville area zoo to observe the mating habits of the rare Francois langur monkey

Fewer than 400 of the langurs are believed to be left in the world. Six live at the Mesker Park Zoo & Botanic Garden.

But even though Donaldson says she was permitted to conduct the same type of observations at the zoo in the 1970s when she taught at the University of Southern Indiana, the current zoo administration has declined to grant her team nighttime access.

"It seems like we just keep getting doors shut on us," said Aaron Ray, a student who volunteered for the research. "The reason I wanted to, it was a chance to make a large difference in the world. There is a possibility my kids won't know what these monkeys are or what they're about except in a book."

It's nothing personal, said zoo spokeswoman Charlotte Roesner. Zoo policy requires after-hours visitors to be accompanied by a staff member, but zookeepers don't work overnight.

And zoo officials don't want to put themselves in the position of having to choose between groups who request overnight access.

"We're stretched thin during the day, much less in the evenings," Roesner said. "We always say no."

Donaldson, who has taught both psychology and animal behavior in a career that included a stint as head of the USI psychology department, said she published papers in the 1970s on the mating habits of the capybara, a large rodent, based on late-night visits to Mesker. She said she even traveled to Venezuela to share some of her findings.

There also were unanticipated benefits to the zoo from her observations, Donaldson said, such as alerting the staff to an after-hours seizure suffered by a polar bear.

Back then, zoo officials just left open a back gate for her, she said.

"I would think they would want us there at night," Donaldson said. "Suppose one of the langurs is giving birth and is having trouble. We should have a number we could call to get a vet."

Donaldson said one student would come to the zoo each evening to observe for two hours each day for a year. There would be one all-night visit each month. Daytime observation also would be necessary, and zoo officials offered Donaldson all of that she needed.

Donaldson said she was inspired by the February birth at the Mesker zoo of a langur, which are known for their crested heads, mostly black fur, and white facial patches that resemble sideburns. The long-limbed creatures are fast disappearing from the mountains and jungles of southwestern China and northeastern Vietnam.

Zoo education curator Diana Barber offered to let Donaldson set up video cameras to observe. But Donaldson said she doesn't have access to video cameras that she can leave at the zoo for a year.

"It would take more than one camera," Donaldson said. "Who would set them up? Who would take them down? Ivy Tech is never going to let me have two cameras for more than a year."

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