Wednesday, July 25, 2001

WE WERE STALKED BY CHIMP WITH A MOBILE PHONE Chippy drives park wardens bananas

KEEPERS at a wildlife park thought they were being stalked by a mobile phone weirdo.

Staff who answered got no response and didn't recognise the number when it came up on their phones.

Little did they know Chippy the chimp had picked the pocket of one worker and was pressing the buttons like mad on the mobile he nicked.

Keepers at Blair Drummond Safari Park, near Stirling, were on the point of calling the police after two days.

But the riddle was finally solved when an irate warden shouted down the phone and was greeted by a chorus of shrieks.

Park keeper Gary Gilmour, 35, said yesterday he was now dreading his phone bill.

He said: "Everyone thinks we're making this up, but it has been driving us all bananas.

"He must have been hitting the re-dial button and then going through my phone book by clicking the numbers in the right order.

"It was a pure fluke but he kept managing to connect with people's mobiles and they jumped out of bed thinking there was an emergency at the park."

Keepers received around a dozen calls to their mobile phones over two days.

Those phoned by Chippy included park manager Bob Fotheringham, who was phoned three times at around 6pm and four times at around 4am the following day

A similar number of calls were received by keepers Davie Booth and Lynne Allan at similar times.

Animal experts yesterday they were not surprised by the chimp's actions and believed it was quite common for primates to mimic human behaviour.

Dr Hannah Buchanan-Smith, an animal behaviourist at Stirling University, said: "Chimapanzees have the same fascination with equipment that children do and I am not surprised one of them has taken to using a phone. They are intrigued by the different noises they make and that they light up when the buttons are pressed."

The mobile phone mystery began when Gary was cleaning out the island enclosure where the chimps live.

He hung up his jacket and, while his back was turned, 11-year-old Chippy began going through his pockets to look for food and found the phone.

Gary later discovered his mobile was missing and presumed it had been misplaced or stolen.

But later the same night his colleagues began getting calls.

Gary added: "He certainly had us baffled until he heard our voices and began calling back to us. He was reluctant to give it up."

-- Anonymous, July 25, 2001