Nature & Environment

Escaped monkey 'Kingussie Kong' captured after five-day chase

By T.K. Randall
February 1, 2024 ·  5 comments

A Japanese macaque. Image Credit: CC BY-SA 4.0 Lorie Shaull If there's one animal you don't except to see in the remote forests of the Scottish Highlands it's a monkey, yet for the better part of a week one particularly mischievous Japanese macaque was spotted multiple times roaming around after escaping from the Highland Wildlife Park near Kincraig.

Volunteers employed drones and cameras in an effort to track the animal down.

The primate had been seen within the vicinity of the entrance to the park itself as well in the back gardens of nearby houses where he was spotted trying to get food from a bird feeder.

Fortunately, he was not thought to have posed a danger to the public, but locals had been advised not to approach and to remove any food that they might have put out in their gardens.

"We're asking locals to please bring any obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside, as we're hopeful that the monkey will return to the park if he can't find food elsewhere," the park's living collections operations manager Keith Gilchrist said at the time.As luck would have it, after five days on the run, the macaque was eventually recaptured after a local resident called the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) to let them know that she had seen him in her garden.

Wildlife officials used a drone to spot the animal and then a tranquilizer dart to subdue him.

Once back in the park, vets gave him a health check-up and plenty of food to eat.

The macaque will likely be released back into his enclosure with the other monkeys soon.

"We want to thank everyone who has helped during the process and will continue to share any further updates," said Gilchrist.


Source: BBC News | Comments (5)

Tags: Monkey