Monkey that escaped from zoo in Scottish Highlands FOUND five days later after dramatic search

• Paige Beresford
• Sarah Peddie

• Published: Invalid Date,

A MISSING monkey that escaped from a Scots wildlife park has now been found.

A frantic search for the Japanese macaque, named Honshu, was launched on Sunday morning.

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The primate broke loose from the Highland Wildlife Park in Kingussie and the alarm was raised when he was spotted in a nearby village.

However the animal, dubbed 'Kingussie Kong' by locals, has now been found five days after it escaped.

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland confirmed that the missing macaque has now been caught.

The monkey was found in a local's garden eating from a birdfeeder when keepers successfully used a tranquiliser dart to catch him just after 10am this morning.

Keith Gilchrist, living collections operations manager at Highland Wildlife Park said: “We can confirm we have successfully caught the macaque that escaped from the park on Sunday named Honshu.

"After a call to our hotline just after 10am our keepers and drone team made their way to a member of the public’s garden where the monkey was eating from a birdfeeder and successfully used a tranquiliser dart to catch him.

“The monkey is on the way back to the park with our keepers where he will be looked over by one of our vet team and reintroduced to sub-adult males within the group.

“We want to thank everyone who has helped during the process and will continue to share any further updates.”

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We previously told how local Carl Nagle spotted the animal in his garden in nearby Kincraig after reading a local Facebook group that stated the village had an unusual visitor.

The monkey managed to make travel nearly two miles to the village after it escaped.

He told BBC News: "I looked out the window and there he was, proud as punch, standing against the fence eating nuts that had fallen down from one of the bird feeders.

"He hung out, he looked a bit shifty like he was where he wasn't supposed to be, which was true.

Scots were warned not to approach the monkey if they saw it on their travels, and instead were to report the sighting to the wildlife centre.

And children at a local primary school were warned not to go outside alone after the monkey was spotted on school grounds.

What are Japanese Macaque monkeys?

• The Japanese macaques are the most northerly living non-human primates
• They are native to three of Japan's main islands - Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu
• To escape the cold, they famously bathe in natural hot springs but this behaviour is unique to the monkeys living in Nagano mountains
• The species live in big groups known as troops and have a strict dominance hierarchy - a young female will inherit her mother's rank

Yesterday, keepers at the Highland Wildlife Park were doing extra headcounts after a fresh sighting of their missing monkey offered hope that he’s heading home.

Drone footage from BH Wildlife Consultancy picked up on Tuesday afternoon revealed the monkey was very close to the Wildlife Park - just 300 metres away from the entrance.

This aligned with the view of the keepers who have been doing five headcounts each day instead of the usual two because they believe he will return to his enclosure and 33 furry friends.

A statement from the Highland Wildlife Park previously said: "We can confirm one of our Japanese macaques escaped from its enclosure this morning.

"Our charity has set up a team who are working to secure the monkey safely and as quickly as possible.

"If members of the public encounter the macaque they should contact comms@rzss.rog.uk with more information and do not approach it."

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The wildlife park has a large group of the monkeys in its centre and even welcomed six babies between 2020 and 2022.

In the wild, there are between 2,000 to 3,850 Japanese Macaques.