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[Carrie McLaren <temporary181 AT stayfreemagazine.org>]

(Thanks to Becky Ebenkamp)


Zoo's phone monkeys forced to tone it down
08:52am 6th April 2006

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=382180

A troop of mischievous monkeys at London Zoo have had to be 
re-trained after showing too much interest in mobile phones.

The ring tones and bright lights proved just too attractive to the 
squirrel monkeys in their new no-barrier enclosure.

Visitors who held out their phones to video or take photographs 
attracted attention from the monkeys who attempted to take the object.

A short training programme was developed which put an end to their 
interest and the monkeys are once again roaming their environment in 
a more natural state of play.

Malcolm Fitzpatrick, curator of mammals at the Zoological Society of 
London, said: "The new barrier free enclosure means the monkeys are 
in closer proximity to visitors.

"They had started to take an interest in visitors' mobile phones when 
they were held out towards them because they could see the lights 
flashing and hear the interesting noises they make.

"It's important that the monkeys maintain their natural behaviour and 
training them not to go for visitors' phones was essential to 
achieving this."

Staff at the zoo used old mobile phones that some of the keepers 
donated and put sticky substances on them that squirrel monkeys don't 
like.

"They soon learned not to touch the phones. They are back to their 
usual pastimes of sleeping and foraging now," said Mr Fitzpatrick.

Squirrel monkeys are native to South America where their status in 
the wild is threatened. They are used for biomedical research, as 
pets and for bait and food.

Currently London Zoo, along with other zoos in England, is involved 
in breeding programmes aimed at increasing numbers of the species.


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READER COMMENTS

11 people have commented on this story so far. Tell us what you think below.

Another case of simian behaviour mimicking that of humans. Isn't this 
why most people buy mobile phones, the twinkling lights and the 
tinkling sounds. All part of the see-and-must-have culture. On second 
thoughts, is this another case of human behaviour mimicking monkeys?

- Chris Downing, Rothwell, England

It's a bit unfair on the Monkeys! After all, some of their close 
relatives, the Apes on the Streets, have been getting away with 
nicking mobile phones for years! Perhaps we could use similar tactics 
to discourage the latter, for instance phones that explode when they 
are switched on without some form of PIN?

- Peter North, London England

Another commonality between Americans and British; our common love 
for monkeys and cell phones. I propose a joint venture in which we 
produce cell phones specifically designed for monkeys...

- Lew D, Maryland, USA

Wouldn't the monkeys behave more naturally if there were no humans 
wandering around in their habitat? I wouldn't act very natural if a 
pack of monkeys started going through my home sticking their noses 
into my kitchen, living room and bedroom. If you want to display 
monkeys for humans to gawk at, that's one thing. If you want to raise 
monkeys that act like monkeys, that's another. It seems to me you 
have to decide which option is more important.

- Steve Moyer, Nevada, Missouri, USA

Instead of re-training them, can we breed the phone-grabbing instinct 
into them, then deploy the monkeys on buses, subways, and in stores 
and theaters? Sounds like a good way to enforce cell phone etiquette 
to me.

- Bob M, Boston, MA

This really makes a monkey out of humans!
Taking away the phones will just further stifle evolutionary 
development of the monkey. Stupid humans have to train monkeys to not 
touch phones through behavior training, but cannot figure out that 
all it takes is a sign - "no phones allowed in the monkey habitat"

- Freah Keek, Bithlo, Florida, USA

This story is truly sad. It's not enough that they are in captivity 
and have humans trampling through their already confined living 
space, but now if they display a natural curiosity to something new, 
it must be squelched through re-training them. I guess they won't be 
evolving/learning anything in that environment. Why not just have 
stuffed monkeys and eliminate the problem?

- Suzanne, Washington, DC, USA