Monkeys

Stories

17 Stories

October 2008
- Tarzan's Old Pal Enjoys His Retirement
  
  Entertainment Weekly | Oct 11, 08 12:47 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Cheeta the chimp is enjoying a fairly humdrum retirement after his glittering showbiz career, Entertainment Weekly reports. Cheeta, at 76 the world's oldest domesticated simian, was plucked from the jungles of Africa as a baby and starred in the '30s Tarzan movies. An "autobiography"—more of a Hollywood spoof, called Me Cheeta —tells the tale of the former star, who now spends his days pottering around his Florida home painting and watching TV. More »
August 2008
- Phelps' Victory Dance: It's Evolutionary
  
  Los Angeles Times | Aug 12, 08 10:36 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The classic chest-out, arms-outstretched victory dance Olympic champ Michael Phelps performed after Sunday's 4-x-100 relay final is older than humanity, the LA Times reports. The same display of pride is instinctive to all primates, researchers say, and the body language of victory and defeat is rooted in the age-old need to confirm one's place in the pecking order. More »
- Huge Gorilla Population Found in Congo
  
  New York Times | Aug 5, 08 4:55 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - As recently as last year, the western lowland gorilla was listed as one of the world's most critically endangered primate species, nearly wiped out by the Ebola virus. But an arduous survey has revealed that 125,000 gorillas are living in the northern Congo Republic, deep in a swampy region rarely visited by humans. "This is the light of hope you look for," one conservationist told the New York Times . More »
July 2008
- Wily Monkeys Elude Trappers
  
  Tampa Tribune | Jul 18, 08 1:11 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Trappers have managed to catch 10 of 15 patas monkeys that escaped from a central Florida wildlife preserve in April, the Tampa Tribune reports. But the remaining five primates continue to evade capture through a mix of guile and speed; trappers say they know where they are, but have so far been helpless to bring them in. More »
April 2008
- Gibraltar to Kill Pesky Apes
  
  Associated Press | Apr 18, 08 5:27 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Gibraltar has decided to kill a band of its famous Barbary apes that has been harassing tourists and residents, AP reports. The 25-strong group of renegade apes—actually large monkeys—has moved to a popular beach area where the animals have been stealing food and climbing into open windows. The British territory's tourism minister said the decision to kill the apes wasn't made lightly. More »
- Red Planet of the Apes?
  
  BBC | Apr 14, 08 2:57 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The first mammal on Mars may be a monkey. Russia is testing radiation and weightlessness effects on macaques for a possible trip to the red planet. Scientists also want to see how the animals react to isolation and the special diet the 520-day mission would require, reports the BBC. Twelve monkeys have been passengers on previous Soviet and Russian space flights. More »
- Ex-Soviet Monkeys Survive 15-Year Limbo
  
  Los Angeles Times | Apr 12, 08 5:50 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Traumatized monkeys once the subjects of Soviet experiments are odd remnants of a more prosperous time in Abkhazia, an area of Georgia that calls itself independent, the Los Angeles Times reports. The area was crippled in its effort to break away from Georgia, but the 286 primates living in a research institute remain a point of pride for residents. More »
January 2008
- Monkeys Swap Grooming for Sex
  
  Associated Press | Jan 5, 08 9:12 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - What price for a little lovin'? Male macaque monkeys pay for sex by grooming females, but only as much as necessary: They groom for longer when fewer females are around, and for less time when there are more, according to a new study. "In primate societies, grooming is the underlying fabric of it all," said the doctor who ran the study. More »
December 2007
- In Monkey Sex, Screamers Win
  
  LiveScience | Dec 19, 07 6:29 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Exploring why female monkeys shout so much during sex, researchers have found that the shouts actually help their partners to ejaculate, Live Science reports. Researchers from the German Primate Center looked at Barbary macaques and found that males ejaculated 59% of the times their partner yelled, and only 2% of the time that they didn’t. Females yell during 86% of all sexual encounters. More »
November 2007
- Scientists Clone Monkey Embryos
  
  Associated Press | Nov 14, 07 12:00 PM CST
  
  (Newser) - Oregon scientists have successfully cloned dozens of monkey embryos and extracted stem cells from them, a long-sought breakthrough that raises hopes of doing the same in humans. After years of failure—and even fraud—scientists feared a fundamental barrier to primate cloning, the Independent reports. “To me, it’s a breakthrough,” said one scientist, because it shows “it is possible.” More »
- Monkeys Manhandle New Delhi
  
  AFP | Nov 13, 07 10:31 AM CST
  
  (Newser) - What separates man from monkeys? In New Delhi, precious little. The Indian capital is being overrun by anywhere from 10,000 to 20,000 of the marauding primates, which have caused numerous recent injuries—not to mention a fall that killed the city's deputy mayor. But the monkey's sacred status complicates their removal, AFP reports. More »
September 2007
- What's Baby Got That Chimps Don't?
  
  Time | Sep 7, 07 12:05 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - What makes humans smarter than their primate relatives? Into the ongoing debate comes a new study that concludes it's not just size, it's the particular kind of computing power. A study matching human toddlers with chimps and orangutans compared their performance on a battery of different kinds of tasks. The children were no better at "physical learning" —i.e. finding hidden objects—but miles ahead in "social learning." More »
August 2007
- Flying Monkey Travels Coach
  
  BBC | Aug 8, 07 11:51 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - A man smuggled a monkey onto a Spirit Airlines flight from Ft. Lauderdale to LaGuardia yesterday by hiding it under his hat. Fellow passengers caught on when the small primate—a baby marmoset the size of a fist—came out and hung on the man's ponytail. The monkey-smuggler, whose flight originated in Lima, Peru, is being questioned at La Guardia. Fellow-passengers credited the monkey for being well-behaved. More »
- Orangutans Play Charades
  
  BBC | Aug 2, 07 9:24 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Orangutan communication works just like a game of charades, according to new research. Orangs and other apes who use signals to communicate what they want pay careful attention to whether their audience understands their gestures—if something works, they repeat it, and if they aren't getting through they try another signal. More »
July 2007
- Scientists Rethink the Bonobo
  
  New Yorker | Jul 23, 07 10:02 AM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Bonobos—the chimp cousins revered by generations of naturalists for their peaceful, playful, apparently even eco-conscious attitudes—may not be quite as groovy as we've been led to believe. Much of the cult of bonobo has been built around data from animals in captivity, where, as one scientist says, "What is there to do except eat and have sex?” More »
- Giant Chimps Found in Congo
  
  Guardian (UK) | Jul 14, 07 1:30 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - Scientists from the University of Amsterdam have discovered a population of giant, near ape-size chimpanzees in the Congo. Long rumored to exist, they are referred to by local hunters as lion-eating chimps. And while the scientists could not confirm the lion-eating, they did see a band of the chimps eating a leopard. More »
May 2007
- Plague Kills Monkey in Denver Zoo
  
  Denver Post | May 22, 07 1:00 PM CDT
  
  (Newser) - The bubonic plague has hit the Denver Zoo. An 8-year-old hooded capuchin monkey named Spanky was found dead last week, and postmortem tests confirmed that the cause was plague. The Denver Post reports that the monkey may have contracted the disease, which is usually spread by fleas, by eating the meat of an infected squirrel. More »