Monkeys and Apes

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    25 Escaped Monkeys of 43 Are Captured in South Carolina

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    The monkeys escaped after a worker at a research center left an enclosure unlocked. One monkey was captured Saturday, and another 24 on Sunday, while the rest remain at large.Twenty-five of 43 monkeys that escaped an enclosure at a South Carolina research center were captured on Saturday and Sunday while the rest remain at large, officials said.Dozens of rhesus macaques made a break for it on Wednesday after a caretaker at the research center, Alpha Genesis, failed to latch the door behind her after feeding the 50 monkeys and cleaning their enclosure.The police in Yemassee, about 60 miles west of Charleston, said on Facebook on Sunday that 24 monkeys were recovered on Sunday by Alpha Genesis. One monkey was caught on Saturday. It was not clear where the monkeys were captured.Based on initial reports, veterinarians said that the recovered monkeys were in good health, according to the Facebook post. The police added that a large group of the escaped monkeys remain along the research center’s fence line.The Facebook post, quoting Greg Westergaard, chief executive of Alpha Genesis, said that the “recovery process is slow, but the team is committed to taking as much time as necessary to safely recover all remaining animals.”Alpha Genesis houses about 7,000 primates for biomedical studies and other scientific research.The police warned the public not to get near the animals and not to get too close to the research center, which is on 100 acres and surrounded by woods where some of the monkeys have been spotted in trees.The Facebook post also urged residents not to fly drones in the area.“A recent incident involving a drone led to the primates becoming spooked, which not only increased their stress but also complicated efforts for their safe return,” the post said.There is no risk to public health because the animals are too young to carry disease, according to Alpha Genesis.Gregory Alexander, the town’s police chief, said that it’s unlikely that the monkeys would be aggressive toward humans, though they are skittish. Each weighs six to seven pounds.The research center is using humane traps and fresh fruit and vegetables to bait the monkeys, which is an effective lure because the domesticated animals cannot easily find food in the wild. A couple of the escapees entered the traps, but did not go in far enough to make the doors close, the police said.The town’s 2,200 residents have been asked to keep their doors and windows closed, and to call the police if they spot a monkey.This is not the first time the town has dealt with escaped monkeys from Alpha Genesis.In 2014, 26 monkeys escaped and were recaptured within two days. In 2017, the company was fined $12,600 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for that episode and other failures to contain the animals. More

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      Man Helped Distribute ‘Sadistic’ Torture Videos of Monkeys, U.S. Says

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      Philip Colt Moss, 41, paid another man for videos of monkeys being sexually abused, tortured and killed, prosecutors said. A child in Indonesia made the videos, according to a previous indictment.An Iowa man was arrested this month for his role in a group that created and shared so-called animal crush videos in which monkeys were brutally tortured, sexually abused and killed in sadistic ways, federal prosecutors said on Friday.The man, Philip Colt Moss, 41, who was arrested on Aug. 8, was charged in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati with conspiracy to create and distribute the videos and with distributing the videos themselves, according to the indictment, which was unsealed on Friday.Also named in the indictment against Mr. Moss are Nicholas T. Dryden, of Ohio, and Giancarlo Morelli, of New Jersey, who were charged in June with the same counts as Mr. Moss.Mr. Dryden, who prosecutors said had paid a minor in Indonesia to film the videos, is also charged with “creation of animal crush videos, as well as with production, distribution and receipt of a visual depiction of the sexual abuse of children because a minor was paid to abuse the monkeys,” the Department of Justice said.Mr. Moss and Mr. Morelli were two of Mr. Dryden’s customers, prosecutors said.From February to April of last year, Mr. Moss sent Mr. Dryden $1,447 for the videos, discussed them and mentioned plans to take a trip to Indonesia with Mr. Dryden to make crush videos themselves, according to the indictment.Lawyers for the three men did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday night. Prosecutors also did not immediately respond.Mr. Moss and Mr. Dryden appeared to have become friends, according to charging documents, with Mr. Dryden even offering to give Mr. Moss free videos.“If ur low on bread brother I’ll throw u a couple for free,” Mr. Dryden said in a text message to Mr. Moss that was included in the indictment.Mr. Moss called Mr. Dryden a “good friend” and responded that he appreciated the offer but insisted on paying because “u work hard to make that all happen.”If convicted on the counts he faces, Mr. Moss could face a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison, according to the Justice Department.Kirsten Noyes More

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      No ‘Hippie Ape’: Bonobos Are Often Aggressive, Study Finds

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      Despite their peaceful reputation, bonobos act aggressively more often than their chimpanzee cousins, a new study found.In the early 1900s, primatologists noticed a group of apes in central Africa with a distinctly slender build; they called them “pygmy chimpanzees.” But as the years passed, it became clear that those animals, now known as bonobos, were profoundly different from chimpanzees.Chimpanzee societies are dominated by males that kill other males, raid the territory of neighboring troops and defend their own ground with border patrols. Male chimpanzees also attack females to coerce them into mating, and sometimes even kill infants. Among bonobos, in contrast, females are dominant. Males do not go on patrols, form alliances or kill other bonobos. And bonobos usually resolve their disputes with sex — lots of it.Bonobos became famous for showing that nature didn’t always have to be red in tooth and claw. “Bonobos are an icon for peace and love, the world’s ‘hippie chimps,’” Sally Coxe, a conservationist, said in 2006.But these sweeping claims were not based on much data. Because bonobos live in remote, swampy rainforests, it has been much more difficult to observe them in the wild than chimpanzees. More recent research has shown that bonobos live a more aggressive life than their reputation would suggest.In a study based on thousands of hours of observations in the wild published on Friday, for example, researchers found that male bonobos commit acts of aggression nearly three times as often as male chimpanzees do.“There is no ‘hippie ape,’” said Maud Mouginot, a biological anthropologist at Boston University who led the analysis.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Monkey Who Escaped in Scotland is Captured

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      A Japanese macaque escaped from a wildlife park on Sunday. After five days of “living his best life,” he was back home on Thursday.A Japanese macaque was spotted in a man’s backyard after it escaped from Highland Wildlife Park in Scotland.Carl Nagle, via StoryfulEver since the breakout, the people of Kingussie have been following the whereabouts of a fugitive in the Scottish highlands.There he was, breaking into a backyard to scoop up some food as a couple filmed in shock. A drone spotted him from above, stalking underneath the branches of a tree. Some cheered him on in his bid for freedom; others were simply impressed he had managed to elude his finders for so long.But on Thursday the search was over: Animal keepers finally captured a monkey days after he broke out of his enclosure in Highland Wildlife Park.The Japanese macaque, who some had nicknamed “Kingussie Kong,” was caught and tranquilized Thursday morning, after a member of public called a hotline to report it was eating from a bird feeder in their garden. “The monkey is on the way back to the park with our keepers, where he will be looked over by one of our vet team,” said Keith Gilchrist, an operations manager at the Highland Wildlife Park in a statement, adding that he would be reintroduced to the park’s troop. The monkey’s real name, he added, was Honshu. It was the denouement to a whirlwind that had engulfed — or at least amused — the communities of Kingussie and Kincraig in the Scottish highlands, where about 1,500 humans live. Since the macaque went on the lam, his fate had drawn reporters who waited nearby for updates on the monkey’s location.“Everybody is rooting for this monkey,” said Carl Nagle, a Kincraig resident who spotted the monkey on Sunday in his backyard, apparently snacking on even more birdfeed. “He must be having a ball living his best life.”For his part, Mr. Nagle said he was “hugely relieved,” that the monkey was caught, saying that he needed to return to his troop. “It’s been five weird and wonderful days.”He wondered if the monkey knew it was time to call the gambit off, given that members of the national press were gathered near the park. “This is ridiculous — and yet it is somehow perfect,” Mr. Nagle said.“He’s going to go home and we’re all going to look at each other and go: Why are we here?”The Japanese macaque, also called the snow monkey, is native to Japan, where its population has recovered in recent years. Park authorities had warned the public to report sightings and not approach the animal, and to keep sources of food inside, but added that he was not “presumed dangerous.” He had been one of a troop of more than 30 animals at Highland Wildlife Park, and park officials had told the BBC that the monkey may have run away after tensions during breeding season. More