On the remote Jicarón Island off Panama’s Pacific coast, a strange and unsettling drama has begun playing out in the treetops—and on hidden camera footage. White-faced capuchin monkeys, typically known for their cleverness and curiosity, are being caught in the act of abducting baby howler monkeys, leaving scientists across the globe scratching their heads.
According to a report from CNN, what began as a routine camera trap review turned into a behavioral thriller for Zoë Goldsborough, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. Her footage, captured deep in the island’s forests, seemed innocuous at first: an adult capuchin with a baby clinging to its back. But something didn’t sit right. The infant’s fur didn’t match. A closer inspection revealed the truth—it was a baby howler, not a capuchin.
A capuchin called Joker
Goldsborough’s footage revealed a pattern. One particular monkey, a subadult male capuchin nicknamed “Joker” for the scar curving across his mouth, was seen repeatedly carrying baby howler monkeys. He wasn’t alone. Over a 15-month period between January 2022 and March 2023, Joker and three other young male capuchins were recorded abducting at least 11 infant howlers.
The bizarre twist? There was no sign of violence or even affection. The capuchins didn’t play with, feed, or nurture the stolen babies—nor did they consume them. The infant howlers, sadly, eventually died from starvation. The behavior, while deeply disturbing, appears to be neither predatory nor nurturing.
Not play, not prey: so what is it?
The footage, part of a long-term study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute, University of Konstanz, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, has sparked a storm of scientific debate. Some initially theorized it was an unprecedented case of cross-species adoption. Others suspected the darker possibility of predation. But the truth seems to lie somewhere in between—or perhaps nowhere near either.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Goldsborough admitted. The capuchins, especially the juveniles and subadults, seem to be acting without clear motive. Theories are now veering into the realm of what scientists cautiously term a “cultural fad”—a form of social learning or behavioral experimentation driven by curiosity, mimicry, or even boredom.
A laboratory of the strange
Jicarón, part of Panama’s Coiba National Park, provides a unique natural laboratory. The island is uninhabited by humans, devoid of predators, and sparsely populated with howler and capuchin monkeys. Here, without the usual pressures of survival or social structure found on the mainland, young monkeys appear to be pushing behavioral boundaries.
“This kind of environment lets the chaos loose,” said Brendan Barrett, Goldsborough’s adviser and a behavioral ecologist himself. “Capuchins are like mischievous toddlers—destructive, curious, and constantly probing their world.”
Some of that probing, the team believes, is being redirected toward the baby howlers, much like a bored child might pull the legs off a spider—not out of malice, but from idle curiosity.
Could boredom be the mother of mischief?
The phenomenon is forcing scientists to rethink what they know about animal intelligence and social behavior. Traditionally, innovation in the animal kingdom is linked to necessity—food scarcity, survival threats, or environmental change. But what if intelligent creatures, when given freedom and time, simply get bored?
The idea isn’t entirely far-fetched. In Japan’s Koshima Island, young macaques once sparked a cultural revolution by washing sweet potatoes—a behavior that spread through generations. On Jicarón, young male capuchins are the only ones known to use stones as tools, and now, they may also be fueling a much darker trend.
“Adolescents are natural experimenters,” said Pedro Dias, a primatologist who was not involved in the study. “They’re not fully integrated into adult society yet, and they’re just beginning to figure out their independence. That’s when we often see strange new behaviors emerge.”
Echoes of ourselves
For some scientists, the eerie sight of capuchins carrying baby howlers to their slow demise evokes uncomfortable parallels with human behavior.
Barrett, recalling his childhood fascination with catching frogs and fireflies in jars, reflected: “We didn’t mean to harm them. But looking back, it wasn’t exactly kindness either.”
In the same way, capuchins may be engaging in arbitrary, purposeless behaviors simply because they can—and because no one is stopping them. It’s a mirror of the human tendency to disrupt ecosystems with technology, toys, and tourism, often without understanding the consequences.
Will the fad fade—or evolve?
The researchers hope this disturbing behavior is just a phase—an evolutionary dead-end that vanishes like many human fads do. But the stakes are high. The baby howlers being abducted belong to an endangered subspecies that reproduces slowly. Each loss is a blow to the population's survival.
Goldsborough remains cautiously optimistic. “Maybe the howlers will adapt and protect their young more closely,” she said. “Or maybe this behavior will just burn out.”
For now, the jungle of Jicarón remains both a sanctuary and a stage for this unscripted saga of curiosity, culture, and chaos. One thing is clear: the monkeys are watching each other. And so are we.
According to a report from CNN, what began as a routine camera trap review turned into a behavioral thriller for Zoë Goldsborough, a doctoral student at the Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. Her footage, captured deep in the island’s forests, seemed innocuous at first: an adult capuchin with a baby clinging to its back. But something didn’t sit right. The infant’s fur didn’t match. A closer inspection revealed the truth—it was a baby howler, not a capuchin.
A capuchin called Joker
Goldsborough’s footage revealed a pattern. One particular monkey, a subadult male capuchin nicknamed “Joker” for the scar curving across his mouth, was seen repeatedly carrying baby howler monkeys. He wasn’t alone. Over a 15-month period between January 2022 and March 2023, Joker and three other young male capuchins were recorded abducting at least 11 infant howlers.
The bizarre twist? There was no sign of violence or even affection. The capuchins didn’t play with, feed, or nurture the stolen babies—nor did they consume them. The infant howlers, sadly, eventually died from starvation. The behavior, while deeply disturbing, appears to be neither predatory nor nurturing.
Biologists have documented white-faced capuchin monkeys on Panama’s Jicarón Island abducting and carrying infant howler monkeys, a previously unseen behavior in wild primates, according to a study published in Current Biology pic.twitter.com/WvXyN2Der0
— Reuters (@Reuters) May 21, 2025
Not play, not prey: so what is it?
The footage, part of a long-term study by scientists from the Max Planck Institute, University of Konstanz, and the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, has sparked a storm of scientific debate. Some initially theorized it was an unprecedented case of cross-species adoption. Others suspected the darker possibility of predation. But the truth seems to lie somewhere in between—or perhaps nowhere near either.
“It’s unlike anything we’ve seen before,” Goldsborough admitted. The capuchins, especially the juveniles and subadults, seem to be acting without clear motive. Theories are now veering into the realm of what scientists cautiously term a “cultural fad”—a form of social learning or behavioral experimentation driven by curiosity, mimicry, or even boredom.
A laboratory of the strange
Jicarón, part of Panama’s Coiba National Park, provides a unique natural laboratory. The island is uninhabited by humans, devoid of predators, and sparsely populated with howler and capuchin monkeys. Here, without the usual pressures of survival or social structure found on the mainland, young monkeys appear to be pushing behavioral boundaries.
“This kind of environment lets the chaos loose,” said Brendan Barrett, Goldsborough’s adviser and a behavioral ecologist himself. “Capuchins are like mischievous toddlers—destructive, curious, and constantly probing their world.”
Some of that probing, the team believes, is being redirected toward the baby howlers, much like a bored child might pull the legs off a spider—not out of malice, but from idle curiosity.
Caught on camera: Capuchin monkeys kidnap baby howler monkeys. pic.twitter.com/8MDEUq4sKe
— The Associated Press (@AP) May 19, 2025
Could boredom be the mother of mischief?
The phenomenon is forcing scientists to rethink what they know about animal intelligence and social behavior. Traditionally, innovation in the animal kingdom is linked to necessity—food scarcity, survival threats, or environmental change. But what if intelligent creatures, when given freedom and time, simply get bored?
The idea isn’t entirely far-fetched. In Japan’s Koshima Island, young macaques once sparked a cultural revolution by washing sweet potatoes—a behavior that spread through generations. On Jicarón, young male capuchins are the only ones known to use stones as tools, and now, they may also be fueling a much darker trend.
“Adolescents are natural experimenters,” said Pedro Dias, a primatologist who was not involved in the study. “They’re not fully integrated into adult society yet, and they’re just beginning to figure out their independence. That’s when we often see strange new behaviors emerge.”
Echoes of ourselves
For some scientists, the eerie sight of capuchins carrying baby howlers to their slow demise evokes uncomfortable parallels with human behavior.
Barrett, recalling his childhood fascination with catching frogs and fireflies in jars, reflected: “We didn’t mean to harm them. But looking back, it wasn’t exactly kindness either.”
In the same way, capuchins may be engaging in arbitrary, purposeless behaviors simply because they can—and because no one is stopping them. It’s a mirror of the human tendency to disrupt ecosystems with technology, toys, and tourism, often without understanding the consequences.
Will the fad fade—or evolve?
The researchers hope this disturbing behavior is just a phase—an evolutionary dead-end that vanishes like many human fads do. But the stakes are high. The baby howlers being abducted belong to an endangered subspecies that reproduces slowly. Each loss is a blow to the population's survival.
Goldsborough remains cautiously optimistic. “Maybe the howlers will adapt and protect their young more closely,” she said. “Or maybe this behavior will just burn out.”
For now, the jungle of Jicarón remains both a sanctuary and a stage for this unscripted saga of curiosity, culture, and chaos. One thing is clear: the monkeys are watching each other. And so are we.
You may also like
'Drug-smuggling cat' caught trying to sneak into prison with heroin strapped to back
Harry Maguire furiously confronts Tottenham star as tensions boil over at full-time
Tottenham's first 2025/26 fixture confirmed after Europa League glory
Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren chairs Tribal Advisory Council meeting in Ranchi
26-year-old man found dead near community centre in Delhi's Wazirpur
