The image was taken by the Mars Spirit Rover in the Gusev crater, a crater over 100 miles in diameter that is thought to have once been a lake filled with liquid water.

It’s one of several images taken by Spirit that appear to show a gorilla knuckle-walking across the surface of the Red Planet.

Online sites devoted to searching through pictures of Mars for signs of life have long pointed to the picture as an example of an ‘anomaly’ that suggests Martian life.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

Tufani the gorilla was first seen on top of her cage Saturday morning and within the hour, the 19-year-old animal was tranquilized and returned to its 40-foot-by-50-foot enclosure, The Dallas Morning News reported Sunday.

‘She was nervous,’ Lynn Kramer, deputy director of animal conservation and science at the zoo, said of Tufani. ‘She wanted to get in her cage with her mate and was looking for a way back in.’

SWAT team members of the Dallas police force were called to the zoo following the initial sighting of the female gorilla.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

An ex-performer, Zhora became aggressive at his circus and was transferred to a zoo in the southern Russian city of Rostov, where he fathered several baby chimps, learned to draw with markers and picked up his two vices.

‘The beer and cigarettes were ruining him. He would pester passers-by for booze,’ the Komsomolskaya Pravda paper said.

It added he has now been transferred to the city of Kazan, about 800 km (500 miles) east of Moscow, for rehabilitation treatment.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

After the war Vienna council officials were left scratching their heads about what to do about the massive steel reinforced concrete bunker that once housed giant anti flak guns.

After a decade of debate they decided to turn it into a tropical aquarium complete with a giant rainforest greenhouse strapped on the side.

Now two Cottontop Tamarin twins were born there in a tiny cave on a small climbing wall.

A spokesman for the organisation said: ‘They live on a wall above the crocodile pond – but we haven’t lost any of our monkey colony yet so we are not worried.’

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

Shawn, an 11-year-old chimpanzee, is known for her gentle way, quirky mannerisms and fingerpainting skills.

Friday morning, something went terribly wrong when Shawn relentlessly attacked and chased Maturen, 22, who had been cleaning a nearby cage.

Maturen’s arm was severely broken in the scuffle, authorities said. Here’s what they say happened:

Around 11:30 a.m., Shawn and another chimp got out of their cage and into an adjacent cage the volunteer was cleaning. Shawn began attacking Maturen. The young woman struggled, but the chimp Shawn kept coming after her.

They both ended up outside the primate sanctuary. Maturen fought to break free, and tried to run inside, but Shawn followed her. Maturen finally had to lock herself in a bathroom to escape Shawn’s wrath.

Handlers got the chimps back in their cage, asked everyone to leave and put the sanctuary on lockdown. Maturen was taken to Helen Ellis Memorial Hospital in Tarpon Springs for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

‘The potential could have been a lot worse,’ said Lt. Steve De Lacure of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who is investigating the incident.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

Stephanie Perkins was standing outside the orangutan enclosure about 10:30 a.m. and reached in to collect a urine sample from orangutan Popi as part of standard procedures for the apes’ medical monitoring.

Another orangutan, Katy, grabbed the caretaker’s right hand and bit the fleshy part of the palm.

Popi − who starred with Eastwood in ‘Any Which Way You Can’ in the 1980s − then smacked Katy, who let go of Perkins’ hand.

Ape trust spokesman Al Setka said Perkins’ wound appeared to be a pressure bite, which apes inflict as a warning.

Typically, apes inflict far more serious injuries in a full attack.

‘We are relieved this wasn’t more serious,’ Setka said.

Setka said he knows of no other attacks on caretakers at the trust, an ape research center studying orangutans and bonobos.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

A bus driver and several other people said they spotted the small primate wandering around Darwin’s northern suburbs on Friday morning.

Following the sightings, the Northern Territory environment department issued a warning for people to stay clear of the animal.

‘Monkeys can be aggressive and bite,’ the department said.

All registered monkeys have been accounted for.

The department says the roaming monkey could have been brought illegally to the Territory from Asia and could be carrying exotic diseases, such as rabies.

It says the monkey has not been spotted since Friday.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

Judge Charles Roberts on Friday denied a DNA test for Eli the chimp, but told James Casey that he and his attorney could bring up the matter at a later date if they gathered more information.

Casey says Eli was born at his chimp farm that he ran in Missouri with his ex-wife during a bitter divorce proceeding. He says the chimp was taken from his property against a court order.

Virginia Valbuena says the chimp came from a wildlife park in California.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

The 6-year-old gorilla decided to try her hand at weather predicting as zookeepers set out two boxes, one a white box with pictures of pine trees on it and the other a box decorated blue with spring designs.

‘We’re going to see which one, Bambio is the gorilla’s name, is going to, to forecast what lies ahead for us,’ said zoo director Dennis Pate. ‘We can’t be any worse than a 50-50 chance, which is what the experts are giving us today.’

Bambio sided with Phil and chose six more weeks of winter. The boxes, wrapped with tissue, contained the same vegetable treats.

Full story here.
—————————————–

“

(Via Monkeys In The News.)

The first film to be shot entirely by chimpanzees will premiere on the BBC on Wednesday, as part of a natural history documentary called “Chimpcam,” the BBC reported.

The chimps were given a chimp-proof camera, designed especially for them, and complete creative control over what they filmed. Researchers will use the footage to observe how chimpanzees perceive the world and each other.