Franklinnoble
08-30-2004, 01:48 PM
Sexually frustrated chimp takes up smoking
'Feili' picks up habit by imitating visitors
http://media.msnbc.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif (http://www.reuters.com/)Updated: 11:46 a.m. ET Aug. 30, 2004
BEIJING - Sexual frustration has turned a Chinese chimpanzee from a mild-mannered simian into a problem primate who smokes cigarettes and spits at visitors, the Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Feili, a female chimp in the city of Zhengzhou in the central province of Henan, picked up her nasty habits by imitating visitors who behaved “improperly” around her, Xinhua quoted zoo director Liu Bing as saying.
But, Liu said, the root cause of Feili’s transformation from a “gentle girl” into a “shrew” lay with the inability to find her a satisfactory mate.
A male chimpanzee at the zoo has failed to live up to Feili’s sexual demands, and she has snubbed other potential suitors.
Zoo officials said Feili was not addicted to nicotine, but the chimp has also demonstrated clever -- if not desperate --behavior to score a smoke.
“The chimp is spitting at tourists and smoking,” Xinhua quoted a boy visiting the zoo. “Just now a tourist threw a cigarette butt to just outside the cage, she tried to get the butt with a stick.”
Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.
'Feili' picks up habit by imitating visitors
http://media.msnbc.msn.com/i/msnbc/Components/Sources/sourceReuters.gif (http://www.reuters.com/)Updated: 11:46 a.m. ET Aug. 30, 2004
BEIJING - Sexual frustration has turned a Chinese chimpanzee from a mild-mannered simian into a problem primate who smokes cigarettes and spits at visitors, the Xinhua news agency said on Sunday.
Feili, a female chimp in the city of Zhengzhou in the central province of Henan, picked up her nasty habits by imitating visitors who behaved “improperly” around her, Xinhua quoted zoo director Liu Bing as saying.
But, Liu said, the root cause of Feili’s transformation from a “gentle girl” into a “shrew” lay with the inability to find her a satisfactory mate.
A male chimpanzee at the zoo has failed to live up to Feili’s sexual demands, and she has snubbed other potential suitors.
Zoo officials said Feili was not addicted to nicotine, but the chimp has also demonstrated clever -- if not desperate --behavior to score a smoke.
“The chimp is spitting at tourists and smoking,” Xinhua quoted a boy visiting the zoo. “Just now a tourist threw a cigarette butt to just outside the cage, she tried to get the butt with a stick.”
Copyright 2004 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters.