Monkeys do like bananas.

So they were used as treats - especially for performing monkeys, presumably because it provided a good spectacle.

People liked to see their skill in peeling them. And bananas are pretty (ahem) appealing anyway - sun-coloured smiles.

So that’s where the connection comes from.

However, you’re right to question it, for three reasons.

1. Monkeys love grapes more than anything.
2. In the wild, bananas are not a natural part of any monkey’s diet.
3. Even some monkey enclosures have stopped giving monkeys bananas.

Guess why they’ve stopped…

It’s because we have cultivated bananas to be so unnaturally sweet, they might get diabetes.

Bananas are no longer fit for monkey consumption.