Monkey Come Home!

Belfast Zoo hunts monkey who went off in a huff

Mon May 30,12:25 PM ET

DUBLIN (Reuters) - It is not just humans who run off when they fight with their parents: Belfast Zoo has launched a hunt for a young monkey who escaped after a spat with his dad.
The 4-year-old black and white Colobus Monkey escaped from his enclosure on Sunday morning and was spotted by a woman in her garden later that evening but has not been seen since.
"He's at that age when he starts to fall out with dad and we're presuming they had a set-to yesterday morning," acting zoo manager Mark Challis said on Monday. "We're presuming he's up a tree and lying low somewhere".
Staff at the zoo said the monkey, which likes to eat bark and leaves, should be able to cope outdoors.
"They come from the slopes of a mountain in Kenya that can get quite cold, so he should be able to cope quite comfortably," Challis said.

How Many Monkeys Does It Take...

Medical Researcher Proposes Building Local Kennel For 500 Monkeys
Monkeys Would Be Used To Find Cures For HIV, Alzheimer’s

POSTED: 9:07 am EDT May 26, 2005

QUAKERTOWN, Pa. -- Bucks County residents plan to question a proposal to build a kennel to house up to 500 research monkeys in Richland Township.
A township planning commission meeting is scheduled Thursday night.
The monkeys would be shipped from a supply company in Beijing, China, to the kennel, where they would be kept while awaiting shipment to research laboratories.
Michael Hsu's development application says the monkeys would be tested for tuberculosis, parasites and other diseases in hopes of finding cures for illnesses such as HIV and Alzheimer's disease.
Hsu says he will address the residents' concerns about the plan at the meeting tonight.

Dam Monkeys!

Japan builds bridge for monkeys

The Japanese government has built a bridge just for monkeys.
The 137-metre suspension bridge across the Unazuki Dam is the latest development in a battle of wits between humans and simians.
Macaques monkeys have been stranded on the human side of the gorge since the dam was built in 2001.
They have taken stealing crops and harassing farmers so the bridge has been built to enable them to return to the other side.
"It's a battle of wits between humans and monkeys. I hope the bridge will stop them coming down to places where humans are living," one resident told the Mainichi Daily News.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has so far spent more than £135,000 on initiatives to keep the monkeys away from crops.
Hisaaki Akaza, 51, a teacher at the Yuho Prefectural High School, came up with the idea of a bridge.

Don't Forget to Flush, Bubbles!

Jackson says his chimp shared his toilet

Thursday, 12 May , 2005, 11:19

Santa Maria: Jurors on Wednesday heard Michael Jackson say his pet chimps would use the same toilet he did, had good table manners and helped clean his bedroom.
In a videotaped interview shown at his child sex trial, the "King of Pop" described the joy he felt when he returned to his Neverland Ranch, where he keeps a variety of animals.
"I come home to my deer or my chimps and I can hug them," he said in the interview recorded two years ago.
"They run around, help me clean the room. They help me dust, clean the window," he said, apparently quite seriously.


A young and happy Michael and Bubbles.

He said his longtime pet chimp "Bubbles" even used the toilet in his bedroom suite. "Bubbles would go by himself," he said, confirming to the interviewer it was the same toilet he himself used.
Jackson indicated Bubbles also knew how to behave at the dinner table. "He'd pick up the spoon and fork."
But Jackson maids who testified earlier in the trial were not that impressed with the behavior of the various chimps Jackson has kept over the years.
One of the housekeepers described how she had to clean up droppings one of the chimps hurled at the bedroom walls, and another described how a chimp called "Max" would tear off his diapers before crawling into Jackson's bed.
The fading pop idol said he had once considered throwing a celebrity animal party for Bubbles with special guests such as fellow chimp Cheeta, of Tarzan fame, Lassie, the world's most famous dog, and Benji another silver screen canine hero.
"A lot of them are still alive," Jackson said.


US pop star Michael Jackson arrives at Santa Barbara County Superior Court. Jurors heard Jackson say his pet chimps would use the same toilet he did, had good table manners and helped clean his bedroom.

Monkey Language

Monkey hired to prevent 'simian onslaught'

May 24 2005 at 10:55AM

New Delhi - A langur monkey has been employed by an Indian government minister - to scare away other monkeys.
The Indian Minister for Human Resources, MAA Fatmi, has taken on the langur, as well as a professional monkey catcher.
He hopes their combined efforts will scare off the monkeys that invade his office, trashing light fittings and ripping up documents.
"They scare away the monkeys and cage the more naughty ones. So things are better now," a spokesperson told the Hindustan Times.
Minister Fatmi had to move into the bungalow after the petroleum minister refused to because of the daily simian onslaught.
Four langur monkeys and two professional monkey catchers are also employed in parliamentary and government buildings in New Dehli.
All offices have been given caged doors and the "langur force" patrols the buildings at night after a series of official documents were torn to shreds and several civil servants bitten.
"We are trying our best. In our drive in March we captured 101 monkeys and sent them to the Delhi government's monkey shelters in Rajokri," Ved Prakash, the municipal supervisor in New Dehli added.

New Monkey

New Monkey Species Found in Tanzania
All Things Considered, May 22, 2005 · Two teams of scientists, working more than 230 miles apart, have discovered a new monkey species in Tanzania. The highland mangabey is the first new monkey species to be discovered in Africa in 20 years.
About three feet long, the monkey is a tree dweller. It has long, brown fur, a long pointy muzzle, an off-white belly and tail, a crest of hair on its forehead and a distinctive call that scientists have dubbed a "honk bark." It was first spotted on the flanks of the 10,000-foot volcano Mount Rungwe and in the adjoining Kitulo National Park by biologists from the Wildlife Conservation Society.
Some months later, a separate team of researchers from the University of Georgia spotted the same species in Tanzania's Ndundulu Forest Reserve. The researchers estimate that fewer than 1,000 of these animals are left on earth. The two teams report their findings jointly in the current issue of the journal Science.
"I still think -- and this shows it -- there's a lot to find out there," says Dr. Tim Davenport of the Wildlife Conservation Society. "There are a lot of areas of Africa that have not been looked at closely."


Scientists think there may be fewer than 1,000 highland mangabey monkeys left in existence.




Highland mangabeys occur as high as 8,000 feet, where temperatures frequently drop below freezing; scientists speculate their long coats are probably an adaptation to the cold

Domo Arigato, Mr. Monkey!

Japanese in Hot Pursuit of Roaming Monkey
Thu May 19, 6:18 PM ET

TOKYO - Japanese officials are struggling to capture a rogue monkey roaming the streets of Tokyo. Believed to be a Japanese macaque that has come out of the wild, the monkey has been sighted at least 11 times since April 30 perched atop roofs, telephone poles and scampering among trees in backyards.
Though it has caused little damage — yet — police and animal welfare officials are in hot pursuit of the monkey, which has been traversing some of the capital's most densely populated neighborhoods.
"It's a bit of a problem. The animal welfare staff is trained to catch dogs but not monkeys," said Tokyo city official Hiroyuki Satsuke.
In rural Japan, the macaques — an endangered species — have been known to attack and bite humans. The average adult weighs about 33 pounds and stands about two feet tall, but their thick fur can make them appear much larger.
Teaching staff ushered children to safety when the monkey entered an elementary school in Tokyo's Kita ward on May 2, Satsuke said. The Asahi newspaper quoted a priest at a nearby temple who saw the monkey scattering flowers left on graves.
"We just can't seem to locate it ... but there is a possibility it could cause physical damage," said a National Police Agency spokesman.
It was not clear why the animal may have wandered into the city, officials said.

You Can Learn a Lot From a Monkey!

Super-chimps attend 'school'
By James Langton
New York
May 17, 2005


Bonobo brain Kanzi, 25, can rival a three-year-old human when it comes to answering questions. Legend has it that bonobos taught humans what to eat.


They will live in a special house, monitored by closed-circuit TV that will capture their intimate moments. But these residents are nothing like the contestants on the Big Brother reality show. These are not human "wannabe stars", but super-intelligent apes called bonobos.

The animals, a species of chimpanzee, have been selected for an experiment that could blur the boundaries between man and his closest cousin. Researchers at the Great Ape Trust in Iowa hope that, with the right stimulation, the eight bonobos, who already understand a limited human vocabulary, will develop skills that include language, art and music.

Sue Savage-Rumbaugh, the US primate expert leading the research, says that if successful, it will prove that many activities thought uniquely human "are not innate in us". Arts and languages, she said, are skills mankind has mastered "from one generation to the next".

This week the second group of bonobos will arrive at their $US 10 million ($A13 million) 18-room house outside Des Moines. It has flushing lavatories, an indoor waterfall and climbing walls.

Inside they have a kitchen in which to prepare meals and vending machines that dispense snacks. While researchers can watch the animals on video, the bonobos have also been given a camera that lets them see who is outside the front door. It will be up to the apes who they let in.

Bonobos have been described by one researcher "as the closest you can get to being human without being human". It is estimated they share 98.4 per cent of their DNA with humans.

A report by biologists at a US university called for them to be reclassified as homo paniscus or "small man". In the jungles of Congo, where war has endangered them, the chimps walk upright and have been observed making complex sounds that have been interpreted as conversations.

They were discovered by Western scientists in 1933, but for locals they were already the stuff of legends, among them that it was bonobos who taught man what foods were safe to eat.

Because chimps' vocal tracts make it impossible for them to replicate human speech, the animals at Iowa will communicate by using touch-sensitive computer screens with 256 symbols.

Many linguistic experts insist that only the human brain is hard-wired for language, but Dr Savage-Rumbaugh claims the most intelligent of the group, 25-year-old Kanzi, can already rival a three-year-old in answering questions.

The experiment, which could last for generations of bonobos, will see how far they can develop "human" behaviour. They will have access to musical instruments and art materials, with the hope that their skills will be passed from one generation to the next.

Disarmed Monkey!

Ape's arm amputated at Lincoln Park Zoo in latest animal problem
Animal rights group demands criminal investigation

By Leah Hope


May 16, 2005 — New questions are being raised about the care of animals at Lincoln Park Zoo after a young ape had his arm amputated. An animal rights group is demanding a criminal investigation into recent animal deaths at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

A spokesperson says the young male broke his arm trying to reach food that was tossed just beyond the exhibit's perimeter. The small ape is a native to Southeast Asia. The spokeswoman added that the gibbon could have destroyed a cast, so amputation was a way to save his life.
Visitors to the primate house may not immediately notice the amputation to one of the gibbon's arms. The gibbon has recovered and could be seen swinging from its remaining arm at an indoor exhibit.
Nearly 200 protesters gathered at the zoo Sunday. The demonstration was organized after three endangered Francois langur monkeys died following their recent move to a new exhibit. Critics of the zoo say the facility's president and staff have not done enough to protect and care for the animals.
"They should insure that that was repaired or fixed or modified," said Debbie Leahy, PETA.
In the last eight months, the zoo confirms nine animal deaths -- three monkey, two gorillas, a camel, and three elephants, one that was euthanized after leaving the zoo. A zoo scientist says that death is an inevitable part of the cycle of life for all animals.
"It's not really unusual to see a grouping of deaths like this. We have 1,200 animals here, 200 species. We have lots of births and unfortunately a lot of deaths every year," said Steve Thompson, Lincoln Park Zoo.
The zoo has asked for two audits following the deaths. Inspectors were at the zoo Monday.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture investigated the death of a lion at the zoo in December, but inspectors found no violation.
The American Zoo and Aquarium Association is putting together a team to investigate the deaths and The People for The Ethical Treatment of Animals is requesting a criminal investigation. A letter to the Cook County state's attorney alleges negligence on part of the staff and inhumane care.
"If animals are dying as a result of negligence, why shouldn't it be a criminal charge?" said Thompson.
Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine, who is a member of the Lincoln Park Zoo, has turned over the request to the first state's attorney to determine if there should be an investigation or possible charges.