Air Lift For Precocious Monkey

Chronicle (Levin), 9 October 1948, Page 7

Air Lift For Precocious Monkey

WELLINGTON, Oct. 8. The Wellington Zoo's most prococious monkey, -Fifi, a young female Arabian baboon, may shortly have a free return trip by air from Wellington to Nelson with all expenses paid by the Nelsou Chamber of Commerce. The popularity of the two Wellington monkeys sent recently by air to Blenheim had been vvatched closely in the rival city of Nelson, said the curator of the Wellington Zoo (Mr. C. J. Cutler) today. A tete to gain funds to improve Nelson 's beach facilities, is to be held by the Nelson Chamber of Commerce on Labour Day. The Nelson Chamber was anxious to liave the monkeys in attendance for this tete but the negotiations so far had been unsuccessful. The two monkeys proved so popular in Blenheim that' the town was reluctant to part with them. The Nelson Chamber of Commerce had appealed to the Wellington Zoo for two more monkeys. H'owevei, said Mr. Cutler, this would deprive the zoo of too many of its trained taint monkeys. He had, therefore, agreed to lend his own particular pet Fiii to Nelson providing she was returned the same day to the Zoo. If Nelson is unable to obtain the two monkeys from Blenheim Fifi wiil fly to Nelson in the morning of Labour Day and return in the afternoon. Fifi, originally a sbjp's pet aboard an overseas vesse) which called at Welling ton. was so used to humans that it was Impossible to put her in a cage with other monkeys, said Mr. Cutler. She refused to sleep anywhere else but in a bouse, and for this reason she would have to be returned from Nelson thr ame day.