Monkeys Teach Offspring to Floss

Female long-tailed macaques have been observed flossing their teeth with human hair. While interesting, the most exciting part is that the monkeys spend twice as much time flossing when their infants are watching, suggesting they are deliberately teaching the offspring to floss.

Experts noted the research is only in the "hypothesis stage," but teaching tool-using techniques to others is a practice thought inherent only to humans.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Iraq and Puerto Rico in Monkey Business

Puerto Rico has a surplus of non-native monkeys since they escaped from research centers in the area some 30 years ago. The rhesus and patas have taken such a toll of wildlife and agriculture that Puerto Ricans are shooting them (a method they consider more humane than lethal injection). Some 90 zoos across the world have been contacted, but few have been willing to both take the monkeys and pay the expenses of shipping them.

But US forces are trying to rebuild the Baghdad Zoo, which collapsed following the 2003 invasion. Most of the animals were set free or escaped on their own. Puerto Rican authorities said, "We will give them all the monkeys they want. We don't have a problem with that."

But authorities for the ethical treatment of animals noted a war zone was a less than ideal location for animals, and called the move "reckless and insensitive."

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Travis, Maul Chimp

Sandra Herold raised Travis from three weeks old. The chimpanzee appeared in ads for Old Navy and Coca-Cola, among others, and though Herold defends him to this day, sources say Travis had behavioral problems in the past.

Last week, the 200-lb. chimpanzee attacked and mauled a 55-year old woman who is still in critical condition. She has undergone seven hours of emergency surgery which saved her life, and has been moved to a clinic known for its success with an earlier face transplant operation. Sandra Herold had to stab her beloved pet to try and stop the attack before police arrived and shot him to death.

And though Sandra insists Travis was agitated and she believes he was trying to protect her from the woman he attacked (Charlie Nash), who was driving a different car, had a different hairstyle, and had playfully taunted the ape with an Elmo doll she brought as a present, it has since come to light that Travis previously attacked a woman in 1996. He also escaped and ran into traffic some years ago. Sandra Herold had expressed, at the time of that incident, she knew she would have to give-up the pet at some point.

Male chimpanzees get progressively harder to control as they mature and are capable of ripping a man's arm from his body. Travis mauled 55-year old Charlie Nash so severely that the woman will never be the same. Nash's brother has already moved to sue Herold. Police are not saying if criminal charges will be filed, yet.

Herold says she gave Travis a Xanax - a prescription pill used to calm patients - but the attack happened a mere five minutes later and it could not have had time to take effect. She has since retracted the statement, saying the animal refused the medicine. The pill was unprescribed.

© C Harris Lynn, 2009

Monkeys from Mars

During the height of the UFO craze in 1950's America, a butcher and two barbers pulled a hoax that garnered national attention:

Edward Watters, Tom Wilson, and Arnold Payne secured a monkey's carcass, shaved it, dyed it green, and cut off its tail.  They then used a blowtorch to scorch a ring in the middle of a local highway and left the body there.  They reported seeing a "large, red saucer" in the middle of the road, surrounded by 2'-tall creatures, and that they had hit one with their truck.

A police officer took the bizarre report on July 7, 1953, and within hours, the Decatur, GA, police station was flooded with phonecalls from all manner of bureaus and investigative agencies, including the Air Force.

But the founder of the local GBI office, Dr. Herman Jones, and an anthropology professor from Emory, Dr. Marion Hines, unraveled the mystery within hours.  By then, the story had made national headlines.  While the men were fined a modest sum for obstructing a roadway, Dr. Jones was credited for bringing forensic science to the Southern state of Georgia.

You can see the monkey, along with many other oddities, at the Decatur, GA Bureau of Investigation mini-museum -- by appointment only.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

North America's Oldest Primate

Fossils recently uncovered in Mississippi revealed North America's oldest primate.

the Teilhardina magnoliana was a tree-dwelling primate that weighed about an ounce. It flourished about 56 million years ago and suggests that primates crossed the Bering land bridge from Asia, as some believe humans did about 55 million years later.

The fossils were discovered by K. Christopher Beard of the Carnegie Museum of National History in Pittsburgh.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008

Orangutan Escapes Pen at Zoo

A 29-year old orangutan named Bruno escaped from his pen at the Los Angeles Zoo Saturday.

Bruno made a hole in his pen, but he didn't try to leave the zoo. Instead, he hid behind his pen while zookeepers herded 3000 visitors out of the area. Last year, a tiger escaped from her San Francisco Zoo enclosure and injured three people, killing one. Bruno was not aggressive.

In fact, since all of the zoo's great apes are trained to allow zookeepers to administer medicine, a handler simply put him through his motions and he allowed her to approach him and administer a sedative by hand. Bruno went to sleep and was carried back into his bedroom.

The incident was over in about 20 minutes.

© C Harris Lynn, 2008