Benji was born high in the rainforest canopy, where he spent the first months of his life clinging to his mother as she moved effortlessly through the trees. The forest was his entire world—a place filled with birdsong, dense green leaves, and the constant movement of other monkeys among the branches. That world ended abruptly when poachers entered the area. His mother was killed during the capture, and the young spider monkey was taken from the only home he had ever known. After passing through a chain of traders, Benji was eventually transported to Southeast Texas and sold to a private owner. Too young to understand what had happened, he was separated forever from the sights, sounds, and social bonds that would have shaped a normal life in the wild.

The remainder of Benji’s life unfolded inside a small suburban house in Spring, Texas. The rooms and backyard fence became the boundaries of his existence, replacing the vast forest he was meant to roam. Although his owners may have cared for him in their own way, a house could never replicate the complex environment, companionship, and freedom that spider monkeys require. As the years passed, Benji spent most of his days indoors, far removed from the troop life and endless canopy pathways that his species evolved to inhabit. His life was relatively short, and one day he died suddenly, leaving behind a story marked by loss, displacement, and a lifetime spent far from the rainforest where it began