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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

The Associated Press State & Local Wire

HEADLINE: Missing monkey found unharmed

DATELINE: WATERTOWN, S.D.

BODY:
A female squirrel monkey missing from Watertown's Bramble Park Zoo 
for most of a week has been found. The 1-foot-tall, 2-pound animal 
was found Saturday afternoon on a farm 10 miles north of Watertown.

"I was coming in from picking sweet corn, looked over to our white 
fence and saw what I though was a squirrel sitting on the fence," 
farmer Jim Beskow said. "I looked closer and thought, 'That's not 
quite a squirrel, it's a monkey.' "

It took nearly two hours for Beskow - with the help of an apple core 
- to coax the monkey down from a tree.

Dan Miller, zoo superintendent, said the animal looked a little thin 
but otherwise seemed normal.

The Watertown Police Department is investigating the incident as a 
possible case of stolen property. The monkey is native to Central 
America and on loan from a private zoo in Louisiana. It is valued 
between $2,500 and $3,000.

The zoo and police fielded dozens of calls since the monkey was 
discovered missing during a daily count. Workers found a large hole, 
big enough for a person to fit through, had been cut through the cage.

"We've been taking lots and lots of calls." Miller said.  "Some of 
them were very off-the-wall, like the one who said they saw a big, 
black gorilla running across the Interstate."