MONKEY BIDNESS.(The Talk of the Town)(monkeys)

Publication: The New Yorker

Publication Date: 14-MAR-05

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COPYRIGHT 2005 All rights reserved. Reproduced by permission of The Condé Nast Publications Inc.

Criticize if you like, but no way was it the monkey's fault. The monkey, who, given the option, would probably choose to remain nameless, was evidently content to perch in a palm tree near the Undumo River in northern Bolivia, twelve miles from the nearest settlement of Homo sapiens. A creature of steadfast habits, a monogamous fruit-eater capable of spending many hours a day hugging his/her mate while crooning a tune with unapologetically repetitive lyrics ("Lu-ca lu-ca lu-ca lu-ca"), the monkey generally maintained a very low profile. Along came Dr. Robert Wallace, a British primatologist and the Wildlife Conservation Society's main man in La Paz. This was five years ago. Over the next couple of years, he spotted the monkey (or, rather, monkeys) several more times....

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