Fresh sighting of escaped monkey in Scotland as zookeepers deploy thermal drones

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Tony Brown, Founder of Forces Manor told the Independent: “I run a facility with accommodation for members of the British armed forces and veterans.

“At first we thought it was some cadet in camouflage on an ‘Escape and evasion’ training exercise.

“We asked if it wanted a hotel room and turned the monkey away when he refused to give us his address.”“At first, it walked passed our building outside the veteran’s lounge and my office.

“I was definitely startled – it is such an unusual sight.“It then went into a neighbours garden and I followed it.

“I saw someone from the Wildlife Trust also following the monkey- they told me it’s not dangerous but I should stay away.

“I’m ex army so I’m not startled but it was certainly an shocking sight. I thought I was hallucinating.

“I couldn’t keep up with it and it got away. It’s not like a tiny cat – probably the same height as a fairly sized dog.

“It looked at me with its pink face thinking ‘are you going to feed me or are you going to give me the boot?’

“At least it wasn’t the tiger that escaped.”

One couple who saw the monkey in their back garden at the weekend described the experience as “so surreal”.

Carl Nagle, 49, and his partner Tiina Salzberg, 50, saw the monkey from their patio doors in Kincraig near Kingussie on Sunday morning.

It nibbled on the nuts in their bird feeder and perched on their garden fence for around 15 minutes before running away.

Ms Salzberg, a chief strategy officer for a marketing consultancy company, told the PA news agency: “We were watching in awe as it’s so displaced to see a Japanese snow monkey in your garden in a village in the middle of nowhere.

“It was absolutely wild, we were both elbowing each other trying to get the other one out of the way so we could get the best video and camera angles.

“It was incredible, I’m sure once in a lifetime.”

Mr Nagle said: “It’s just the most surreal thing, I’ve seen snow monkeys in the wild but you don’t expect to see them in your back garden in the Highlands.”

Japanese macaques, also called Japanese snow macaques or simply snow monkeys, are found on three of the four main Japanese islands—Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and live further north than any other macaque species, according to the New England primate conservancy.

They have human-like naked faces and expressive eyes. They have cheek pouches for food storage. In adulthood, their faces and bottoms become red.

All macaques have opposable thumbs that they use to manipulate objects. They use all four limbs to get around (quadrupedal movement), but also walk just on their hind legs (bipedal) when holding something in both hands.

Kingussie Kong was last spotted this morning, say Highlands Wildlife Park.

There are several theories about why he decided to escape his pen and go off on an adventure.

One theory, reported in the Guardian, claims the monkey sought respite from the fraught atmosphere of the pen during breeding season.

The fugitive ape is younger and more timid than the two dominant males amongst the highland macaques.

The last sighting of the missing macaque was this morning.

Keith Gilchrist, living collections operations manager at Highland Wildlife Park said: “There has been a sighting of the macaque this morning, which we are currently responding to.

“Throughout the day our expert team of animal keepers will be patrolling the local area using a variety of techniques to try and coax him in, as well as using our thermal image drone contractor to aid with the search. Cairngorms Mountain Rescue has also kindly offered to support with their thermal imaging drone.

“As with yesterday, we’re asking locals to please bring any obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside, as we’re hopeful that the monkey will return to the park if he can’t find food elsewhere.

“Although the macaque is not presumed dangerous to humans or pets, our advice is to not approach him but to contact our hotline on 07933928377 with any sightings.”

Japanese macaques, also called Japanese snow macaques or simply snow monkeys, are found on three of the four main Japanese islands—Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—and live further north than any other macaque species, according to the New England primate conservancy.

They have human-like naked faces and expressive eyes. They have cheek pouches for food storage. In adulthood, their faces and bottoms become red.

All macaques have opposable thumbs that they use to manipulate objects. They use all four limbs to get around (quadrupedal movement), but also walk just on their hind legs (bipedal) when holding something in both hands.

One couple who saw the monkey in their back garden at the weekend described the experience as “so surreal”.

Carl Nagle, 49, and his partner Tiina Salzberg, 50, saw the monkey from their patio doors in Kincraig near Kingussie on Sunday morning.

It nibbled on the nuts in their bird feeder and perched on their garden fence for around 15 minutes before running away.

Ms Salzberg, a chief strategy officer for a marketing consultancy company, told the PA news agency: “We were watching in awe as it’s so displaced to see a Japanese snow monkey in your garden in a village in the middle of nowhere.

“It was absolutely wild, we were both elbowing each other trying to get the other one out of the way so we could get the best video and camera angles.

“It was incredible, I’m sure once in a lifetime.”

Mr Nagle said: “It’s just the most surreal thing, I’ve seen snow monkeys in the wild but you don’t expect to see them in your back garden in the Highlands.”