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Family chased by wild monkeys at Florida's Silver Springs State Park

Posted at 3:57 AM, Jul 03, 2017
and last updated 2017-07-03 09:40:04-04

A visit to a state park turned scary for a Florida family when they were chased by wild monkeys.

Susie Ramsey and her family from Estero, Fla., were visiting Silver Springs State Park in Ocala on June 29 when they came across a group of wild rhesus monkeys.

For more than 75 years, rhesus macaques have inhabited the park.

Ramsey and her family came across the troop of monkeys at the Sea Hunt exhibit.

In a video posted on YouTube, you can see at first the monkeys were just sitting around. However, just a few minutes later the monkeys became angry. They growled, hissed and started chasing people. Thankfully, no one was hurt.

Ramsey's son thought the entire ordeal was funny.

But attacks by monkey attacks can be serious and cause injuries. The animals have sharp fangs and are extremely strong for their size.

The population of monkeys at the park has grown to roughly 200. University of Florida biologists say new sightings have also been reported in Lady Lake and The Villages, more than 20 miles south of the park.

Biologists fear as the population grows, they would not be surprised to see males disperse outside of the Ocala area.

If you spot a monkey in the wild you should never look directly into their eyes or smile with your teeth showing -- the animals consider such actions a sign of aggression.

Experts advise to back away from them without showing fear and open your palms to indicate to them you are not holding any food.

Watch the monkey attack in the embedded video below:Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.