During the filming of Aguirre, the Wrath of God, Werner found himself in dire need of a lot of monkeys for the climactic scene. He asked some local trappers to gather up as many as he could, about 400 or so, offering to pay half the fee in advance. When he found out that the trappers instead intended to sell the monkeys to private owners in the United States--with many of them likely to die on the way there--Werner intercepted them. He claimed to be a veterinarian and that the monkeys would need vaccinations before being allowed to leave the country. The trappers reluctantly handed over all 400 monkeys and Werner loaded them onto his jeep and drove off. He brought them back to the set, used them in the scene and then released them all back into the jungle.
