A primate suspect: US monkey dials 911

By: 2 years ago

This undated handout image courtesy of San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office obtained on August 16, 2022 shows Route the Capuchin monkey after making a 911 call at Zoo To You near Paso Robles, California. AFP

LOS ANGELES—California cops rushed to a zoo after a 911 call — only to find it had been placed by a mischievous monkey.

Dispatchers sent officers to investigate a possible emergency after receiving a call Saturday night that had disconnected.

Sheriff’s deputies in San Luis Obispo County traced the call to the offices of Zoo to You, a conservation park 200 miles (320 kilometers) north of Los Angeles, but couldn’t find any humans in trouble.

Undeterred, and determined to get to the bottom of the mystery, they began to investigate.

“Then they all realized… it must have been Route the Capuchin monkey,” said a social media post by the sheriff’s office.

“Apparently, Route had picked up the zoo’s cell phone… which was in the zoo’s golf cart… which is used to travel around the zoo’s 40 acre site.”

Capuchins are particularly inquisitive creatures, who enjoy poking and pressing objects they pick up.

“And that’s what Route did… just so happened it was in the right combination of numbers to call us.”