Cheeky monkey on the loose
Charlie left sanctuary looking for love
MEMBERS of the public have been urged not to approach a frisky monkey who escaped an island sanctuary looking for love.
The 24-year-old Capuchin, named Charlie, went missing from the Monkey Sanctuary Ireland in Rathdrum, Co Wicklow, earlier this week.
Sanctuary manager Willie Heffernan told how Charlie, who is not neutered, had to be moved away from female monkeys he shares the island habitat with.
Willie said: “He was only two years old when he arrived here 22 years ago... normally all the males get spayed but he slipped the knife.
“There’s three female monkeys on the island next to him... he was harassing them so I tried to move him and another male off the island.”
Willie said he managed to get the other male off the island but Charlie – who has escaped numerous times before – “jumped ship”.
He said the fear now was that Charlie, who came from a laboratory at
Edinburgh University, had ventured into nearby Avondale National Park.
Speaking on RTE Radio One Willie said: “There’s a whole forest stretching down from Laragh to Arklow, so he’s plenty of woodland to be in.
“He’s young and he’s fit and he’s a great tree climber, he’s able to dive from one tree to the other through the air.
“He’s excited when he thinks Wicklow is full of female young monkeys, that is probably what he is out looking
for.
“He lived out on the island for 22 years, I’ve seen him catching grey squirrels and small birds so he’s able to get plenty of protein into him.” Anyone who spots Charlie is urged to contact Willie at the sanctuary or their local Garda station. He stressed Charlie was a wild animal and added: “He’s not a pet and I’ve never petted him. I’ll only put the food on the island by pulley. There’s very little human interaction. “I’ve got a tranquilising dart so I can easily get him and bring him home.”