Monkey demonstrates model behaviour by putting on mask

A video of a socially responsible monkey has been making its rounds on different social media platforms.

In the video, a monkey can be seen struggling to put on a black cloth mask. While it did seem to understand that the mask was to be put on one’s face, the mask was far too big for it, much to the amusement of those who watched and shared the video.

Towards the end of the video, the mask actually appeared to adhere quite nicely to the monkey’s face while it traipsed around on its legs and hands for a bit, at least until it fell off again and the monkey removed it using one of its paws.

Many marvelled at the monkey’s outstanding behaviour and were utterly delighted by the way the mask had covered not just the monkey’s nose and mouth, but its entire visage too.

The video surged in popularity after Rex Everett Chapman, an American former professional basketball player and social media influencer, posted the 27-second clip on his Twitter account, and garnered 2.4 million views at the time of writing.

The video was also posted to Reddit, a popular social news website and forum, where it was similarly well-received. The post was upvoted over 97,400 times and received more than 2,600 comments.

A netizen said that eyeholes should be created in the mask so that the monkey would be able to see instead of having to stumble around blindly.

Some were more worried about the careless discarding of the mask and expressed their concerns regarding how the litter could cause negative consequences for the wildlife.

One shared that viruses can be spread to animals such as apes. Other animals, including pet dogs and wild animals at the zoo such as lions and tigers, were indeed infected by the Covid-19 virus after they came into contact with individuals who tested positive.

You Zi Xuan is an intern at The Independent SG. /TISG