ONLY ON 10: Monkey appears; victim speaks out | News

St. Petersburg, Florida -- 10 News cameras rolled for an exclusive interview with the woman the mystery monkey bit when the monkey appeared out of nowhere to illustrate this is his territory.

Clearly agitated, the monkey shook tree limbs, charged the camera, and showed its teeth.  He didn't like us there, and it was this aggression that people don't understand.

Since the story broke, the mystery monkey's Facebook page blew up with nasty comments aimed at the victim and her family.

"They are saying we are media whores, that we're making it up, that we want attention. None of that is true.  We love the monkey and have lived with it in the area for years.  We don't want the monkey killed. We want to see it captured and sent to a facility where it can live in peace, " said Shannon Fowler, the victim's daughter.

The family said they have been besieged by hate mail, nasty phone calls, and even threats.  

People think that the family wants the monkey tested for rabies, which would require he be killed and his brain cut open, and that the victim did something to provoke the attack- so the victim agreed to speak exclusively to 10News to set the record straight.

"I'm only speaking on camera so that people understand I don't want to see the monkey harmed in any way," she told us.  "I did not provoke the monkey. I was just sitting outside on the phone when he jumped on my back and bit me."

She continued, "I would hate to see anybody go through what I have gone through with these series of painful injections. I rejected the option to kill the monkey so it could be tested. I want to see the monkey moved to a secure location with his own kind."