The #1 source for news about monkeys and apes

[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

The Guardian (London)

February 8, 2001

SECTION: Guardian Foreign Pages, Pg. 17

LENGTH: 179 words

HEADLINE: Naked women go ape at monkey study

BYLINE: James Astill in Nairobi

BODY:


Twelve biologists counting monkeys in rural Kenya were put to flight this
week by an a angry horde of more than 300 naked women.

The 12 were conducting a census of the endangered Tana River Colobus monkey
- a project funded by the World Bank - when the women stripped and charged
at them.

It is thought they were protesting against a plan to turn the area into a
nature reserve for the primates, which are unique to the area.

The scientists abandoned their equipment and fled.

The incident, in the Tana river district of south-east Kenya 40 miles from
the Indian Ocean, is the latest in a series of clashes between villagers
and the Kenya wildlife service, which is seeking to resettle them outside
the proposed reserve.

The women were from the village of Baomo, which the service is planning to
clear. About 2,000 families are affected by the resettlement plan.

The local police chief said the women were forced to retreat when police
officers arrived and fired shots over their heads.

No arrests were made but security was tightened.