Last Thursday, vervet monkeys were spotted near a park in St. Louis. Nobody knows who owns the monkeys or why they’re roaming around loose. But as police and health officials in the city are trying to keep an eye out for the little guys, one wrinkle of our modern age is complicating things. People are posting AI-generated pictures and videos to social media claiming to have found the monkeys, according to the Associated Press.
“The Department of Health first became aware of the situation through reports from residents, as well as a sighting reported by a St. Louis Metropolitan Police Department Officer. Currently, the origin of these animals is unknown,” the local health department told First Alert 4.
“A Department of Health Animal Care and Control Officer was dispatched on Thursday, Jan. 8, to investigate, but was not able to locate the animals. On Friday, Jan. 9, several officers patrolled the area based on continued reports of sightings, but the monkeys have still not been found,” the department’s statement continued.
St. Louis Department of Health spokesperson Willie Springer told the AP that people have been posting fake images of the monkeys online, even claiming to have captured the monkeys. And it’s hard to tell what’s real.
“It’s been a lot in regard to AI and what’s genuine and what’s not,” Springer told the AP. “People are just having fun. Like I don’t think anyone means harm.” The Health Department didn’t immediately respond to questions from Gizmodo on Monday afternoon.
Some of the fake monkey images are pretty transparently fake, like those in the form of Instagram reels set to music from the Monkees music group. Others also show the Sora watermark, indicating they were created with OpenAI’s video creation tool. But a large percentage of the public doesn’t seem to know that a Sora watermark means a video is fake.
Then there are the AI videos that show the monkeys doing ridiculous things, like stealing cars:
To top it all off, there are also claims that a random goat is roaming around St. Louis, though photos posted to Facebook could be AI as well. It’s hard to tell in the age of AI, when you literally can’t believe your own eyes anymore.
Animal control is reportedly talking with experts at the St. Louis Zoo in an effort to find the monkeys. But even if they’re found, the owners are unlikely to come forward, according to First Alert 4. It’s illegal to keep monkeys in the city.
Anyone in St. Louis who spots monkeys (in real life, not online) is being asked to call Animal Care and Control at 314-657-1500.
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