Monkey on the loose safely returned to Highland Wildlife Park
The Japanese macaque has been roaming freely for 5 days
Last updated 1st Feb 2024
A monkey which escaped from a wildlife park in the Highlands has been found in a garden on the fifth day of searches.
A search was launched on Sunday after the Japanese macaque found a way out of its enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie.
The animal was found eating from a bird feeder in a garden on Thursday morning and shot with a tranquilliser dart.
He has been taken back to the park and will be checked over by a vet before being reintroduced to his group.
Keith Gilchrist, the park's living collections operations manager, 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 bird feeder and successfully used a tranquilliser 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."
A drone was used in the search and experts were able to follow the monkey for 45 minutes on Tuesday using the device, though were not able to retrieve him that day.
People in the area were urged to bring obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside to encourage the monkey to make its way back to the park.
They were also advised not to approach the animal, although it was presumed not to be dangerous to humans or pets.
Drone footage captured on Tuesday, with help from BH Wildlife Consultancy, showed the monkey roaming about underneath trees and sitting in undergrowth to have a look about before loping off.
The monkey, which had been nicknamed Kingussie Kong, was around 300 metres (roughly 980ft) north of the entry to the park in the footage captured on Tuesday.
The Japanese macaque, also known as the snow monkey, is the most northerly living non-human primate, according to Park operators the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.