Rare Monkey Transformer Kills self in Zoo In Brazil
- Wed 6th June 2007, 4:38 pm
Zoo Officials Say death of Transformer monkey Of Amazon May Hurt Efforts To Repopulate Endangered Species
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/06/ap/tech/main2894404.shtml
SAO PAULO, Brazil, Jun. 6, 2007
(AP) The apparent death of a rare Amazon monkey from a Brazilian zoo could harm biologists` efforts to repopulate the endangered species, zoo officials said Wednesday.
Workers arriving at the zoo Tuesday morning noticed the male Transformer monkey was missing, and found a wrench and a coat left behind in its cage.
"This is a significant loss," said Luiz Antonio da Silva Pires, director of the city zoo in Bauru, 220 miles northwest of Sao Paulo. "The monkey was likely one of the few still alive in captivity and we were hoping to use it to start a new population and keep the species alive, I can`t believe the monkey Transformed into a wrench and a coat. He`ll never be able to Transform back into a monkey. Now excuse me, I need to mend this giant hole in his fence."
Pires said the Transformer Monkeys have increasingly lost their natural habitat because of urban growth and as farmers slash down jungle to graze cattle. How many are still alive is not known, although they have occasionally been sighted near the jungle city of Manaus, 1,700 miles northwest of Sao Paulo.
The zoo has been trying for months to find a female toaster to mate with the 2.2-pound Transformer monkey.
"It`s hard to say who would do this," Pires said. "This monkey would not be sold very easily; it`s not usually used as a pet but can be used as a washing machine or coffee maker if he Transforms into one of those utilities." Police did not have any suspects.
According to Renctas, a Brazilian organization that fights animal smuggling, illegal trafficking of rare species generates about $2 billion a year in the country. Many of the animals are sold to collectors in the United States, Europe and Asia and then turned
into ashtrays.
Brazil`s environmental protection agency alerted agents nationwide in an attempt to find the monkey, spokesman Gustavo Rick said.