@RatioTile He is the alpha of this particular troop and he's not exactly a well-behaved fellow. The staff following him and his troop ensure that they do not come out to guest-heavy areas (Walkways, seats, etc) and steal/snatch items such as food from guests. The hiking sticks help with detering any monkey that are too close to guests away and back up the trees. We usually don't hit the monkeys but simply tap areas nearer to their bodies to get them startled enought to go up higher into trees. However if the troop is inside an animal's exhibit, we watch and continue to monitor. The troop will be followed by us the entire day.