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[Carrie McLaren <stay.free AT verizon.net>]

Chimp quits smoking at China zoo 
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2005-10/03/content_3578698.htm

XI'AN, Oct. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- A chimpanzee in a northwest China zoohas 
succeeded in quitting smoking, a habit that has troubled her for 16 
years.

    "Ai Ai", a 27-year-old mother chimp at Qinling Safari Park in 
Shaanxi Province, spent four weeks abstaining from smoking, by 
cutting her daily cigarette consumption step by step until ridding 
the habit entirely, a zoo keeper told Xinhua.

    He said the zoo management decided to help the chimp quit smoking 
because it had been deteriorating her health.

    "She's served fried dishes and dumplings at every meal, alongside 
her usual diet of milk, banana and rice," he said without giving his 
name. "I also put earphones on her so that she could enjoy some pop 
music from my walkman."

    The zoo keepers tried every way to divert the chimp's attention 
from cigarettes: a walk after breakfast, a music session after lunch 
and gym after dinner.

    "In the first few days, she squealed for cigarettes every now and 
then, but as her life became more colorful, she gradually forgot 
about them altogether," said the zoo worker.

    Ai Ai became a smoker in 1989, shortly after her spouse died. 
With the death of her second spouse in 1997 and a daughter's moving 
away to the Shenyang Zoo in the northeast, the chimp becamea chains 
smoker in solitude and grief.    Enditem