Best Monkey

Miss Baker was a Peruvian squirrel monkey who flew on Jupiter AM-18 in 1959 and became one of the first monkeys to survive spaceflight and recovery.

Hua Hua is a female crab-eating macaque born in China in 2017, paired with Zhong Zhong as the first live primate clones made by nuclear transfer.

Zhong Zhong is a crab-eating macaque born in China in 2017, one of the first primates cloned by somatic cell nuclear transfer.

Albert II was a U.S. rhesus macaque that reached about 134 km on a V-2 rocket in 1949, becoming the first primate and first mammal in space.

Able was a Kansas-born rhesus macaque who flew with Miss Baker on Jupiter AM-18 in 1959, becoming one of the first monkeys recovered alive after spaceflight.

Corporal Jackie was a chacma baboon who served with South Africa's 3rd Infantry Regiment in World War I and was promoted after being wounded.

Tetra is a rhesus macaque born in Oregon in 1999, known as the first cloned primate produced by embryo splitting, or artificial twinning.

Britches was a stump-tailed macaque removed from a University of California, Riverside lab by the Animal Liberation Front in 1985.

Darwin is a Japanese macaque known as the Ikea Monkey after being found in a Toronto IKEA car park in 2012 and moved to an Ontario sanctuary.

Retro is a rhesus macaque announced by Chinese researchers in 2024 as the first healthy clone of the species made with a revised SCNT method.

Yorick, also called Albert VI, was a U.S. monkey that flew on an Aerobee in 1951 and became the first primate recovered alive after landing.

Zhakonya was a Soviet rhesus macaque that flew on Bion 9 in 1989, a mission that set a monkey space-endurance record of 13 days 17 hours.

Zabiyaka was a Soviet rhesus macaque that flew with Zhakonya on Bion 9 in 1989, sharing the monkey endurance record of 13 days 17 hours.

Semos was a nine-year-old male rhesus macaque at Oregon National Primate Research Center whose skin cells yielded cloned embryonic stem cells.

Gordo, also called Old Reliable, was a squirrel monkey launched on U.S. Jupiter AM-13 in 1958; telemetry showed he survived flight but was lost at sea.

Crystal is a female tufted capuchin actor born in California in 1994, known for Dexter in Night at the Museum and Dr. Rizzo on Animal Practice.

Juan was a tufted capuchin launched by Argentina on 23 December 1969, reaching about 82 km on a suborbital flight and returning alive.

Miss Sam was a female rhesus macaque flown on NASA's Little Joe 1B in 1960, surviving an 8 minute 35 second Mercury abort-system test.

Jacco Macacco was a fighting monkey exhibited at London's Westminster Pit in the early 1820s, becoming a cited figure in animal-welfare debates.

Krosh was a Russian rhesus macaque that flew on Bion 10 in 1992 and 1993; after rehabilitation on Earth, he later produced offspring.

Abrek was a Soviet rhesus macaque that flew on Bion 6, or Kosmos 1514, in 1983, the Soviet Union's first orbital primate mission.

Bion was a Soviet rhesus macaque that flew with Abrek on Bion 6 in 1983, helping begin the USSR's Bion satellite primate program.

Dryoma was a Soviet rhesus macaque that flew on Bion 8 in 1987; after recovery, he was reportedly presented to Cuban leader Fidel Castro.

Martine was a French pig-tailed macaque launched on a Vesta rocket in 1967, reaching about 243 km and surviving a suborbital spaceflight.

Patricia was a cynomolgus monkey that flew with Mike on a U.S. Aerobee rocket in 1952 and survived a biomedical suborbital test flight.

Lapik was a Russian rhesus macaque that flew on Bion 11 from December 24, 1996, to January 7, 1997, the last Bion monkey mission.

Pierrette was a French pig-tailed macaque launched on a Vesta rocket in 1967, reaching about 234 km during a recovered suborbital flight.

Mike was a cynomolgus monkey that flew with Patricia on a U.S. Aerobee rocket in 1952, surviving a short biomedical high-altitude flight.

Uncle Fatty was an obese long-tailed macaque in Thailand whose 2017 capture for a diet program became a widely reported urban-wildlife case.