Escaped monkey who spent night in public toilet returns to Fota Wildlife Park

A Colobus monkey who made a daring escape from his habitat at Fota Wildlife Park in Co Cork earlier this week has been safely rescued.

Cheeky Chops escaped from the wildlife park on Tuesday. He returned to the car park outside the facility on Friday having spent at least one night sleeping in a public toilet.

Roisin Fitzgerald, Marketing Manager at Fota Wildlife Park, said they finally managed to coax the monkey down from a tree in the car park Friday afternoon.

“After a few hours of coaxing with his favourite treats of boiled potatoes, avocado, peanuts and bananas the rangers were able to entice him into a secure holding pen within the Wildlife Park grounds.

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“Cheeky Chops has now been safely reunited with the other three members of his bachelor group, who welcomed him back with lots of grooming.”

Cheeky Chops has lived in Fota Wildlife Park with his fellow Colobus monkeys for eight years.

Ms Fitzgerald said that at no time was Cheeky Chops in danger, or a threat to any visitors or members of the public. She added that staff are constantly reviewing their animal welfare policies at the park in order to improve their animals experiences.

Colobus monkeys are originally from the cool mountain forests of Kenya. They eat mainlyvegetables, willow branches and fruit as treats.

Fota Wildlife Park was opened in 1983 by the then president of Ireland, Dr Patrick Hillery, and is a joint project of the Zoological Society of Ireland and University College Cork. It is a registered charity.