■UNITED STATES
Monkey escapes from zoo
A spider monkey new to the Washington Park Zoo in Michigan City, Indiana, used a garden hose to scale the walls of a moat and make a break for freedom. Workers were cleaning the moat at the time on Wednesday. Zoo director Johnny Martinez says workers had figured the monkeys would remain inside their enclosure during the cleaning even though the moat was empty of water. However, one monkey made it past the moat, grabbed the hose and jumped onto the roof of a water filtration plant. The zoo staff recaptured the adventurous monkey at a nearby boat dealership, where they found it perched atop a white and blue speedboat.
■MEXICO
Reptiles left at airport
More than 500 reptiles and small creatures are alive and in government custody after they were abandoned at the Mexico City airport for more than a week. Officials found the shipment of scorpions, turtles, lizards, tarantulas, frogs, salamanders and snakes after their owner failed to pick them up. Many are protected species. More than 170 did not survive the ordeal. The country’s environment department said on Saturday in a statement that the reptiles that could be saved were sent to a wildlife center and will eventually be returned to their natural habitat. Authorities were investigating why the creatures were abandoned.
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