He was just trying to give them some sexual healing.
A UK animal park is going viral after hiring a Marvin Gaye tribute artist to serenade monkeys so they could reportedly “Get It On” during the spring mating season. A video of this alleged libido-boosting performance is currently blowing up on Instagram ahead of Valentine’s Day.
“The monkeys were treated to a LIVE PERFORMANCE from love song legend ‘Marvin Gaye,’ ” reads the caption to the Instagram post, which was posted Monday morning by the Trentham Monkey Forest, a primate sanctuary in Tittensor that houses troops of critically endangered Barbary Macaques from Morocco and Algeria, per their site.
Per the post, the ape haven had enlisted Dave Largie — a popular Motown and Barry White tribute artist — to help “boost the monkey love at the forest this mating season.”
In the accompanying clip, the vocalist can be seen belting out Gaye’s iconic 1973 love ballad “Let’s Get It On” while decked out in a flamboyant white suit. He reportedly also sang several other ballads by the “I Heard It Through The Grapevine” crooner in an effort to get the monkeys in the mood.
“We thought it could be a creative way to encourage our females to show a little affection to males that might not have been so lucky in love,” said Trentham Monkey Forest Director Matt Lovatt of the audio-visual aphrodisiac attempt.
Naturally, a performance-enhancing performance might seem gimmicky — but the park doesn’t monkey around when it comes to increasing the ape’s chances of survival.
“Females in season mate with several males so paternity amongst our furry residents is never known,” explained Lovatt. “Each birth is vital to the species.”
Currently, Barbary macaques are listed as endangered by the IUCN Red List with wildlife experts estimating that there are only around 5,000 of these elusive apes left in the wild.
It’s unclear whether or not Largie’s love songs will help the macaques’ end mating season with a bang.
However, music has been proven to affect animals in different ways, including inspiring cows to produce more milk and even turning rats into degenerate gamblers.
Perhaps Largie can perform a rendition of “Imagine” to help calm these dog-massacring Macaques in India.
