Japanese monkey captured after daring cage break
By Associated Press
Jan 24, 2011 9:43 PM CST
In this December, 2010 photo, Japanese macaque Lucky is in his cage in a nature park in Mishima in Shizuoka Prefecture. Marauding monkey Lucky that terrorized resort towns in central Japan last year by biting nearly 120 people has escaped captivity. Officials in Mishima City said Monday, Jan. 24, 2011...   (Associated Press)

A marauding monkey confined to a zoo after it bit 120 people during a two-month rampage in resort towns of central Japan briefly escaped captivity Tuesday before it was captured again.

The macaque named Lucky slipped out of a government-run nature park Monday while a keeper was cleaning her cage. Officials raised the alert across the scenic town of Mishima, where she had attacked residents last year. Park and city officials found Lucky at a public park a day later.

"Her capture was easy. We called her name repeatedly, and she came to us," city official Hidetsugu Uchida said. "She has been used to being called by her name."

Lucky will be sent back to Mishima's Rakujuen zoo where she has become one of the most famous residents since her previous capture in October.

Macaques are one of the most common wild mammals in Japan, and are considered a nuisance in rural areas where they damage crops and steal food.

Lucky lived wild in a mountainous area before her two-month biting spree in Mishima and other resort towns near Mount Fuji in central Japan.

She attacked people from behind, targeting mostly children and elderly women and biting and scratching their arms and legs. Lucky proved tough to catch the first time, avoiding citywide monkey hunts for weeks.

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