coal-mining monkeys

Monkeys are smart!!

Red Colombus Monkeys from the African island of Zanzibar have learned that ingesting charcoal will counteract the adverse affects of toxic substances in their diet (eg., Indian almond and mango leaves).

Like any other mischievous kid, monkeys have been known to snatch chocolates charcoal while our backs are turned, lying near kilns, where they are produced for cooking. They would also nibble the charred wood of burning trees (effects of deforestation). A typical monkey would eat about five grams of charcoal a day. Of course, our commercial powdered activated charcoal works better than these charcoal. But it works quite well for them.

The reason why these monkeys are still chomping those leaves albeit being toxic is because they are high in protein and highly digestible. This would explain the monkey boom in the Indian almond and mango habitat, which are significantly higher than those in the ground water forest.

Even though, our population in their habitats have increased, these monkeys have decided to look the glass at half full with a hint of cheekiness as they learned to coexist with us, by snacking on charcoal. I say well done to the monkeys!

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Activated charcoal has a well-known ability to adsorb toxins and it is effective in treating overdoses and poisonings, and in Europe people use it in liquid form as a digestive aid. Adsorption is the ability of substances, in this case the toxins, to stick to the surface of a solid, such as charcoal.

What does "Activated" mean? Basically it means a raw charcoal product which is purified for internal use. Use the powdered form if possible, as commercial tablets are about half as effective and should be chewed. Read more here.