Presidential Primate

Monkey urinates on Zambian president

LUSAKA (Reuters) – A monkey urinated on Zambian President Rupiah Banda as he spoke to journalists at a news conference on Wednesday.

Banda softly shouted: "You (monkey) have urinated on my jacket," and paused as he looked up to see the animal playing in a tree just above his chair.

"Perhaps these are blessings," he said continuing his address amid laughter from the audience of journalists and diplomats at the State House presidential offices.

Several monkeys play around the grounds of Banda's residence and his office. There are also many species of antelope and birds in the State House grounds.

Meandering Monkey Moe Missed

Domesticated chimp is missing in California forestBy CHRISTINA HOAG

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A 42-year-old chimpanzee who is toilet-trained and can eat with a knife and fork is believed to be at large in a Southern California forest after escaping his cage.

The chimp called Moe disappeared Friday from Jungle Exotics, which trains animals for the entertainment industry. The chimp wandered into a house next door, surprising construction workers who saw him head for a nearby mountain.
A weekend search in the San Bernardino National Forest 50 miles east of Los Angeles came up empty.

"I yelled his name out for hours, for hours, with no one else around. Nothing. Not even a hoot," said LaDonna Davis, who owns Moe with husband St. James Davis.

The Davises, who raised Moe in suburban West Covina for more than three decades, contracted a helicopter to fly over the forest Saturday and Sunday, hoping the noise would flush Moe out of hiding, said Mike McCasland, who's serving as the couple's spokesman. "That's the one thing that does spook him," he said.

"We think he may be hunkered down near a water source," said McCasland. "We think he's in a contained area a quarter-mile away but he's probably disoriented and the brush is extremely heavy."

Searchers also were making noise and calling Moe's name as they scoured the forest. "His survival instincts would probably kick in, even though he's been in captivity for a long time," McCasland said.

San Bernardino County officials were not involved in the search because the chimp did not pose an immediate threat to public safety, but Moe's escape will be investigated, said Brian Cronin, chief of the county's Department of Animal Control and Care Services.

"It's our impression that this was just an error," he said. "Jungle Exotics has always had exemplary ratings."

State Department of Fish and Game officials were investigating whether there was any violation of the facility's permit, said spokesman Steve Martarano.

St. James Davis brought Moe home from Tanzania in 1967 after the baby primate lost his mother to poachers. He and his wife treated Moe as their surrogate son, toilet-training him, teaching him to eat with a knife and fork and letting him sleep in their bed and watch TV.
But local authorities didn't view Moe in the same light. For years, the Davises waged a legal battle to keep Moe in their home.

They finally lost in 1999 when Moe bit part of a woman's finger off when she inserted her hand in his cage. The Davises said he mistook her red-painted fingernail for his favorite licorice. The incident also came after Moe mauled a police officer's hand.

Over the Davises' protests, Moe was taken to an animal sanctuary. But in 2005, when they took a cake to celebrate Moe's birthday with him, the couple was viciously attacked by two other chimpanzees who had escaped their cages.

The chimps nearly killed St. James Davis, chewing off his nose, testicles and foot and biting off chunks of his buttocks and legs, before the sanctuary owner shot the animals to death.
Moe was transferred to Jungle Exotics, where the Davises built him a state-of-the-art cage, McCasland said.

"He's a very personable, sweet, nice chimp," McCasland said. "He's not going to be aggressive unless he's provoked."

The couple, who have no children, broke down in tears at a press conference in Los Angeles.

"What am I going to do?" sobbed LaDonna Davis.

"He meant the world to us," said St. James Davis. "He was the best man at my wedding."

Moe's "parents," LaDonna and St. James Davis, made a tearful plea for help finding Moe on Monday. (AP Photo/Ric Francis)

Frequent Flyer Monkey

Monkey business at airport

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Wildlife officials were struggling to catch a monkey which sneaked inside the security area of New Delhi's international airport and forced the brief closure of the VIP lounge, a security official said on Monday.

The lounge at the airport was partially closed for more than an hour on Sunday after the monkey scampered through the international departures terminal.
Wildlife officials have been trying to capture him.

"They are giving the monkey fruits to keep it in one area around which a net has been put," the official said. "There was some panic last night, but now since the net has been put, the monkey is isolated. "

The official said the animal entered the building from a hole in the ceiling due to construction at the airport.

Tots top chimps in social abilities

Study: 'Cultural intelligence' sets apart humans

Toddlers as young as 2 1/2 years old have better social skills than their nearest primate relatives, chimpanzees, and display an innate "cultural intelligence" unique to humans, according to a study published Friday in the journal Science.

Lead author Esther Hermann of the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, said the research showed humans had distinctive abilities to understand non-verbal communication, imitate another's solution to a problem and to read the intentions of others.  These skills were necessary for people to acquire mathematics and language, and to participate in cultural groups with institutions and practices, she said.

The report said the toddlers' superior performance on a battery of tests provided fresh insight into the evolution of human cognition, suggesting the demands of living in a complex society drove development of the human brain.

Humans have brains roughly three times larger than those of chimps, and scientists have long tried to understand the forces that caused the two species to diverge 4 million to 7 million years ago.  One theory holds that larger brains endowed humans with a greater memory, faster learning abilities and an improved capacity for planning.

Such skills might have allowed early humans to better forage for seasonal berries and fruits.

But many biologists and anthropologists consider that explanation incomplete.  They believe that brain size correlates to a species' need to manage social relationships with family members, allies and rivals.  Recent studies have found that apes and monkeys -- whose brains are large relative to their physical size -- share a range of behaviors with humans, suggesting that such traits as cooperation, empathy and using simple tools go back to a common ancestor.

Outdone by apes

Apes and children fared equally well on tests of how they understood their physical world.  Occasionally, apes did better.  For example, chimps and preschoolers could tell at a glance which dish contained a few more raisins.  But when the dishes were covered and extra raisins dropped in, the apes kept better track of which dish had more.

Tae Kwon Don't!

She's As Sweet As Tupelo Monkey

Mississippi Monkey Escapes Again
By Associated Press

TUPELO, Miss.

Oliver apparently has learned to pick locks, making his second breakout from behind bars in less than a month.    On Wednesday, however, the white-faced capuchin monkey was back at the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo, and this time his cage has been secured with triple chains and locks.

"There's one on top, one on the bottom and one in the middle," park manager Kirk Nemecheck said.    "If he gets out again, someone is letting him out."

Oliver's cage was standing open Monday morning and the lock was lying on the ground.    Oliver and another capuchin named Baby were still in the area, and workers easily recaptured Baby, but Oliver took off, Nemecheck said.

The 9-year-old primate was found Tuesday in a yard about four miles from the park.

"The police showed up and helped us," Nemecheck said.    "We surrounded him, a guy jumped on him and got his hand bit, but we got him."

The capuchin, a species of monkey native to South and Central America, also freed himself July 31 and wasn't apprehended until Aug. 6.    This is Oliver's third escape.    His first was about six years ago.

Nemecheck is getting fed up.

"I'm getting titanium locks next time," he said.    "I'm tired of chasing a monkey."

Change That Loaded Diaper, Mr. Monkey!

Cops Capture Diaper-Wearing Monkey
By Associated Press

MADISON, Wis. - Authorities captured a diaper-wearing monkey who led them on a downtown search after biting a woman.

The 20-year-old woman reported being bitten on the thumb as she tried to pet the animal early Wednesday.

The woman was walking by State Street Brats, a popular nightclub, where a man had the monkey on a leash inside its beer garden. People walking by were petting the monkey, who was wearing a white diaper.

But the monkey bit the woman, who suffered four small punctures on her thumb, police said.

The bite sent the woman to the hospital, where a physician said the monkey should be found so that it could be quarantined to determine if it has a disease.

By 7:15 a.m., police found the man and the monkey. But the man lost the handle on the monkey before an animal control officer arrived and it got loose.

Police issued a warning to the public of the foot-tall monkey with a long prehensile tail: "It is now on the lam, presumably still in the State Street area."

About seven hours later, the monkey was captured and taken into custody downtown to be quarantined for 10 days, police said.

Elementary, My Dear Monkey!

Mile High Monkey Club

Man Smuggles Monkey Into NYC Airport

NEW YORK - A man smuggled a monkey onto an airplane Tuesday, stashing the furry fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said.

The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell. After landing Tuesday morning, the man waited several hours before catching a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport.

During the flight, people around the man noticed that the marmoset, which normally lives in forests and eats fruit and insects, had emerged from underneath his hat, Russell said. "Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him," she said.
The monkey spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and behaved well, said Russell, who didn't know how it skirted customs and security.

Airport police were waiting for the man and his monkey when the plane landed about 3 p.m., and the man was taken away for questioning. It was unclear whether he would face any criminal charges.

The city's animal control agency said the monkey appeared healthy. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to take it for disease testing and keep it quarantined for 31 days, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.

If the monkey is healthy, it could wind up in a zoo.

"It is kind of a spirited monkey," Russell said. "That will be the nickname of the monkey: Spirit."

No Fifi, no!

One Of World's Oldest Chimps Dies At 60

SYDNEY, Australia - One of the world's oldest chimps, Fifi, has died in Australia, zoo officials said Friday.

Fifi, the matriarch of the 18 chimpanzees at Sydney's Taronga Zoo, celebrated her 60th birthday in May with sugar-free cupcakes and coconuts among four generations of her family. But Fifi, who had arthritis in her later years, stayed in bed Thursday morning, raising suspicions among the keepers that she was unwell, the zoo said in a statement.

Keepers provided her with fresh bedding and her favorite foods, while other chimps in the group visited her throughout the day, the zoo said. She died in the afternoon.
"Keepers have been saddened by the peaceful passing of their oldest and much loved Chimpanzee, Fifi," the zoo said.

Sydney's Taronga Zoo's oldest Chimpanzee, Fifi eats carrots to celebrate her 60th birthday in this, May 21, 2007 file photo. Fifi, one of the world's oldest chimps and the matriarch of the 18 chimpanzees at Taronga Zoo, died in her sleep.

Humans and chimps have evolved separately since splitting from a common ancestor about 6 million years ago, but still have almost 99 percent of their gene sequences in common. Chimps have an average life expectancy of about 45 years, but can live longer in captivity because of the health care and good diet they get.

Cheeta, the star of a dozen "Tarzan" movies in the 1930s and 1940s, is listed by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest chimp. He turned 75 in April.

You'd Better Have A Good Alibi, Mr. Monkey!

Man Wears Chimp Mask To Rob Store
June 8, 2006 10:56 AM CDT

There is a bizarre robbery case in North Texas.

The search is on for an armed robber disguised as a chimpanzee.

The armed suspect, disguised in a chimp mask, fires a shot and then robs the store.
Police think the gun was loaded with blanks because they never found a bullet.

The clerk was not hurt. The chimp is on the lam.

Marlboro Monkey

A 26-year-old chimpanzee enjoys a cigarette at the zoo in Xian, China in August 2005. Xiku the chain-smoking chimpanzee has almost kicked his deadly habit thanks to the efforts of zoo keepers in China, but it has taken a beer or two to help get him through detox

Look To the Sky, Mr. Monkey

Weather-wise monkeys are first to the fruit
24 June 2006

TO SNAFFLE ripe fruit before the competition, grey-cheeked mangabeys keep their eye on the weather. Not only can the monkeys remember how to find the trees where their favourite figs were ripening, they can also monitor the weather and return just as the figs are ready.
Karline Janmaat at the University of St Andrews, UK, made the discovery after tracking a group of between 18 and 26 mangabeys (Lophocebus albigena johnstonii) for 120 days in the Kibale Forest of Uganda. She found that whenever individual monkeys tested the ripeness of figs by squeezing and smelling them, they were more likely to revisit the tree if the weather warmed, accelerating ripening (Current Biology, vol 16, p 1212).
"It's very competitive in the rainforest, so you would expect it would pay to be able to predict when fruit ripens so you can get there first," says Janmaat.

Live Fast, Die Young Mr. Monkey!

Beer helps chimp to quit smoking
From: Agence France-Presse
June 26, 2006
XIKU the chain-smoking chimpanzee has almost kicked his deadly habit thanks to the efforts of zoo keepers in China, but it has taken a beer or two to help get him through detox.

Xiku became addicted to smoking while mimicking the habits of humans during a career as a circus performer, the state-run Xinhua news agency said.

By the time he was sent to a zoo in Urumqi, the capital of China's northwest Xinjiang region, in 2002, Xiku was already smoking 10 cigarettes a day.

That number doubled as visitors threw him cigarettes for amusement, but he is now down to smoking four a day after some unorthodox efforts from zoo keepers, Xinhua said.

``At the beginning, he became irascible when he wanted to smoke, jolting windows and doors,'' Xinhua quoted one of the keepers as saying.

``We sometimes gave him some sunflower seeds or a bottle of beer to help him shake off the addiction and visitors are no longer allowed to throw him cigarettes.''

Bustin' Out Dead Or Alive!

Black market for monkeys turns zoos into crime zones
By Jeffrey Stinson, USA TODAY
LONDON — Thieves who broke into the Drusillas Park Zoo on England's southeast coast last week weren't monkeying around.

They went straight for rare species of small monkeys and stole five animals: a pair of silvery marmosets and their 2-month-old baby, and a pair of Geoffrey marmosets.

"To break into a monkey house in the dead of night is dangerous and requires skill," says John Haywood, coordinator of the National Theft Register for Exotic Animals in the United Kingdom. "This is a specialist form of criminality and well-organized."

The break-in early June 18 was the most recent in a string of thefts of monkeys from British zoos and the latest in an alarmingly high number of thefts of exotic and even endangered animal species from zoos in Europe. Behind the thefts, Haywood says, is black-market demand from private collectors around the globe.

"It seems that we live in a designer world," Haywood says. "Anything that is increasingly rare in the wild is very sought-after."

Haywood, who works with zoos and police to combat theft and illegal trafficking in animals, says small monkeys were stolen in recent weeks from two other zoos in England. In the past five years, he estimates, more than 50 have been stolen. The British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums lists 75 members — from bird and animal parks to public zoos.

Monkeys aren't the only target of thieves. In December, burglars stole Toga, a baby South African Jackass penguin, from a zoo on the Isle of Wight off England's southern coast. The film March of the Penguins was showing in theaters at the time.

Martign Los, who monitors zoo thefts for the European Association of Zoos and Aquaria in Amsterdam, says about 600 animals were stolen from about 80 of the association's zoos in Europe from 2000 to 2004. Monkeys, birds and reptiles — some of them endangered — are among the most popular targets. "It's quite a big problem," Los says. "Only a small amount is ever found again."

Karen Eggert, spokeswoman at the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, says no primate thefts were reported in the USA last year. She notes that American zoos are not obligated to report thefts.

Haywood suspects that because the monkeys stolen last week included pairs, they are headed to black-market breeders who will try to deal their offspring to private collectors.

He won't say how much the monkeys could be sold for. He fears putting a price on the animals would only spur more thefts. Claire Peters, a spokeswoman for the Drusillas Zoo, will say only that they are priceless.

While Haywood won't put a dollar amount on the animals, he notes that the black market is lucrative enough to break into a zoo at night and "risk getting a nasty bite."

Good Rumor

Give That Back, You Cheeky Monkey!

Baboons make a monkey out of England
Wed Jun 21, 9:26 AM ET
LONDON (AFP) - Baboons at a British safari park are making a monkey of England World Cup fans by stealing the flags from their cars.
The animals have amassed a huge collection of the red-on-white Saint George's cross flags at Knowsley Safari Park near Liverpool, northwest England.
Keepers said the 120-strong troop have been known to make off with windscreen wipers but are now going bananas about the England flags festooning many vehicles.
"Many people are wisely removing the flags before they set off on the safari drive," said David Ross, the park's general manager.
"However, if they forget, the baboons usually take them and they've now built up quite a collection.
"Visitors are certainly enjoying their antics with the flags as it does look like they are showing their support for the efforts of the England team in Germany."
He added: "The baboons have always been great fun but they are the vandals of the animal world."

...And Your Name Will Be, "The One Who Flings Poo!"

Rwanda holds baby gorilla naming ceremony
Sat Jun 17, 11:00 AM ET
KIGALI (Reuters) - Twelve baby gorillas were given names by Western officials on Saturday in a ceremony aimed at attracting more foreign tourists to the tiny central African nation.
Dubbed "the land of a thousand hills", Rwanda is home to nearly 400 mountain gorillas, one of the world's most endangered species, which attracted over half of the country's 22,000 tourists in 2005.
Tourism officials face an uphill battle to lure visitors to Rwanda, where around 800,000 people were massacred in the 1994 civil war.
Representatives from the United States, Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands -- where most of Rwanda's tourists come from -- participated in the baby gorillas naming ceremony, normally reserved for newborn children.
The UK ambassador to Rwanda Jeremy Macadie called one of the gorillas "Big Ben" after London's famous landmark.
"Like the way 'Big Ben' is a major tourist spot in London, this young baby gorilla will be a centre attraction for tourist to this beautiful nation," Macadie said.
Rwanda earned over $25 million (14 million pounds) from the tourism sector in 2005 but hopes to make close to $100 million by 2010.
The first public naming ceremony was held last year when 30 baby gorillas were given local names.
Conservationists and researchers have traditionally named the gorillas they track using the patterns formed by wrinkles on the primate's faces as identifiers.
A 1988 film, "Gorillas in the Mist", based on the work of primate researcher Dian Fossey, who studied the animals in the 1960s, has put the tiny nation on the world map.

MO Monkey Business

Monkey business stirs up neighborhood
Sikeston, MO - More than 50 signed a petition asking the Sikeston City Council to look into monkey attacks on their street. The petitioners claim the monkey is a danger to adults and children.
Phyllis Gates thinks otherwise.
" He is usually pretty calm. People make him nervous," Gates said. Gates says she bought the monkey in Kansas City five years ago for $5,000. The monkey's name is Alex.
"I wouldn't say he attacks people, but if he is provoked, he is like other exotic animals, they will attack," Gates said.
Her neighbors say it does not matter if the monkey is provoked, he will attack anyway.
"She cannot control her monkey," Peggy Bearden said. "It attacked my grandson. Part of the material is gone in his shirt." Bearden lives across the street from Gates.
Next door, Gayla Schearf says Alex attacked her.
"They came over to my yard, and the monkey got away. He attacked me after that," Schearf said.
Sikeston City Manager Doug Friend tells Heartland News that it is illegal for someone to own a monkey in Sikeston, but there is an exception in Gates' case, because she owned the monkey before the law was put in place. Friend says the city will look into recent allegations.

Well I am just a monkey man...I'm glad you are a monkey, monkey woman!

Tailing a monkey man in search of healing powers

KOLKATA (Reuters) - Thousands of people are flocking to an impoverished Indian village in eastern West Bengal state to worship a man they believe possesses divine powers because he climbs up trees in seconds, gobbles up bananas and has a "tail."

Devotees say 27-year-old villager Chandre Oraon is an incarnation of the Hindu monkey god Hanuman -- worshipped by millions as a symbol of physical strength, perseverance and devotion.

"He climbs up trees, behaves like a monkey and is a strict vegetarian, but he is no god and his condition is just a congenital defect," says Bhushan Chakraborty, the local medical officer.

Tucked away in a hamlet in Banarhat, over 400 miles north of Kolkata, the state capital, devotees wait for hours to see or touch Oraon's 13-inch tail, believing that it has healing powers.

Doctors said the "tail" -- made up of some flesh but mostly of dark hair -- was simply a rare physical attribute.

"It is a congenital anomaly, but very rarely do we find such cases," B. Ramana, a Kolkata-based surgeon, told Reuters.