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[Carrie McLaren <carrie AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

Hong Kong woman sues government after escaped monkey wrecks her TV
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/WeirdNews/2004/04/01/403619-ap.html

HONG KONG (AP) - A Hong Kong woman said conservation officers chased 
a stray monkey into her home, where it went on a rampage that 
destroyed an expensive flat-screen television.

Now she's suing the government.

Cai Ai-lan told the Small Claims Tribunal officials spooked the 
monkey with nets while they were trying to catch it in September and 
it went on a minor rampage in her apartment, the South China Morning 
Post newspaper said.

Cai, 48, said the officials should have been trying to tranquilize 
the monkey instead. The Apple Daily newspaper said she's seeking the 
equivalent of about $5,000 Cdn to cover damage to the TV, which was 
knocked down and ruined.

Conservation officers said Thursday any damage to the television was 
not their fault.

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department spokesman Albert 
Hui said the monkey chase had not yet started when it ran into Cai's 
apartment.

Hong Kong has hundreds of wild monkeys in remote parts of the Kowloon 
peninsula and they occasionally stray into urban areas and cause 
minor mayhem.

Regardless of how Cai's lawsuit is resolved, newspapers reported she 
replaced her flat-screen television with a bulkier conventional model.

"It is heavier, so if the monkey comes again, it's not easily 
overturned," Cai was quoted telling the Post.