British medical researchers are calling for tighter regulation on research involving animals with human tissue or genes, while cautiously approving some experiments, the BBC reports.

Professor Christopher Shaw highlighted objectionable 'category three' experiments such as:

• the mixing of non-human primate and human cells to make an embryo
• the mixing of human and non-human gametes (reproductive cells)
• the replacement of monkey brain cells with human ones to gain human characteristics

Dr Robin Lovell-Badge suggested a gap between fantasy and reality:

Everyone laughs at talking meerkats and cats with opposable thumbs, but if we were actually doing that in the labs I don't think people would be so happy.

Read: Animals containing human material (synopsis) – Exploring the boundaries (evaluation)

Flying first class may help you avoid luggage charges, but it doesn't mean you can pack endangered animals in there, as the BBC News reports.

A man flying from Bangkok to Dubai was arrested by undercover police after trying to check in suitcases containing rare juvenile animals: two leopards, two panthers, an Asiatic black bear and two macaque monkeys, all sedated and packed in carefully-crafted containers.

Freeland Foundation director Steven Galster observed the arrest:

It was a very sophisticated smuggling operation. We've never seen one like this before. The guy had a virtual zoo in his suitcases.

The front cover of The Hartlepool Monkey by Sean Longley

This issue, I have decided to review a novel, mainly because there a lack of furry novels. While this novel is not written with the fandom in mind, it does cover the furry criteria (i.e. the title character is a monkey with human qualities). Also, it is a novel with some importance to me locally.

I come from the Teesside region of England, and one of the towns in it is the port town of Hartlepool. The most famous myth attached to the town is that during the Napoleonic Wars there was a shipwreck, the sole survivor of which was a monkey. However, the residents of Hartlepool did not know what the monkey was and so they hanged it, thinking it might be a French spy. Since then, the people of the town have been nicknamed “Monkey hangers”.

The legend is one that has been adopted into the local ethos. The mascot of the town’s football club, Hartlepool United, is H’Angus the Monkey. One of the men who played him, Stuart Drummond ran for election as the town’s first directly elected mayor. He promised that if elected, he would give free bananas to all school children – and he won! Not only did he win, but he was re-elected in the next election with an increased majority, despite the fact he failed to deliver on his promise.

Anyway, to return to the point of my review, The Hartlepool Monkey is a novel based on the legend, telling the story of the monkey from its discovery to its eventual execution.

BBC Sport has unveiled a title animation featuring several anthropomorphic animals as part of their coverage of the Beijing Olympics.^[1]

Created by Jamie Hewlett, illustrator of the virtual band Gorillaz and with music by Gorillaz creator Damon Albarn, the animation is based on Journey to the West; an ancient Chinese tale of pilgrimage to retrieve Buddhist scriptures which mixes adventure, allegory, and spiritual enlightenment. Both band members were born in the Year of the Monkey, and were fans of the British TV series Monkey.^[2][3]

Depicted in the animation are lead characters Sūn Wùkōng, the Monkey King, and his golden-banded staff; Xuánzàng the monk; Zhū Bājiè (or Pigsy), once field marshal of the Milky Way, wielding his rake; and Shā Wùjìng (Sandy), an immortal banished from heaven for smashing a crystal goblet, with his monk's spade.

The same story inspired elements of manga and anime such as Dragon Ball, InuYasha, and Ranma ½.

Bears killed and devoured a monkey in front of horrified visitors at a Dutch zoo, officials and witnesses said.

Visitors reported that the grisly scene began as several bears chased the monkey, a macaque, onto a wooden structure at Beekse Bergen Safari Park.

They said a bear tried unsuccessfully to shake the monkey loose, ignoring attempts by keepers to distract it. The bear then climbed up and grabbed the monkey, mauling it to death and bringing it to its concrete den, where three bears ate it.

(Full article can be found on CNN)

According to China's Xinhanet, a young monkey at an Israeli zoo has started walking on two legs after a near-death experience. The link includes a picture of the monkey.

A businessman in Thailand's Lopburi Province thinks lucky monkeys are behind his success, so he holds an annual party for them! You can read the AP story and see the Pepsi-guzzling monkey here

In a North Carolina experiment, monkeys have successfully learned how to manipulate a robtic arm via brain implant. According to an article at this site, this is the first time in history that equipment has ever been operated in a three-dimensional environment via pure mental control.

BBC Online reports that Stuart Drummond, who plays H'Angus the Monkey (the town's soccer team's mascot), has been elected mayor of Hartlepool, England on a platform of free bananas. Drummond campeigned both in and out of the suit. Some observers accuse Stuart of making of mockery of the electoral process, though he disputes the claim. Unfortunately twice in recent years he has been ejected from the stadium for simulated sex acts in costume, which does not inspire confidence in many about his judgement.

First dogs, and now monkeys, are seeking medical treatment from humans. An injured wild monkey left its jungle in India and stood in the middle of a road until a passing bicylist gave him a ride to a vet hospital, where he was treated and released. He received help in spite of the fact that his fellow monkeys have been harrasing and even hurting people in nearby villages. More can be found here.

A woman and her child were attacked by four escaped zoo monkeys, which then had to be shot, according to this AP article. Only the youngest monkey escaped.

For some reason, Hollywood still thinks that monkeys are funny. Thus, Dreamworks has picked up the project 'Space Monkeys' for animation, about a group of NASA test monkeys in the 1950's. Yay.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hollywoodreporter/film/brief_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1483038

A macsot for the local football (rugby) team was elected mayor in the town of Hartelpool, UK. His pre-election platform was "free bananas for schoolchildren". The full story is here.

Score one for the fursuiters!

BEIJING — A woman breast-fed a rare monkey back to health after its life was endangered when its real mother ignored it after giving birth, the China Daily newspaper reported Monday.

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