Monkey makes his return following four days on the run
The Highland Wildlife Park report their missing macaque is now back!
Last updated 1st Feb 2024
A monkey missing since Sunday has finally returned home to the Highland Wildlife Park.
At the start of Thursday drone searches continued as experts looked to track the Japanese macaque which appeared to be making his way closer to the park near Kincraig.
They were unable to use the device on Wednesday due to high winds, with a yellow weather warning in place in the area.
Locals in-and-around Kincraig had been asked to withdraw food sources from sight in a bid to limit the macaque's options, making him more likely to head back to the park.
The macaque left the wildlife park on Sunday after finding a way out of his enclosure.
Drone footage captured on Tuesday showed him roaming about underneath trees and sitting in undergrowth, but keepers then said they were not in a position to draw him back or retrieve him.
The macaque was around 300 metres north of the entry to the park in the footage captured on Tuesday.
The Japanese macaque, also known as the snow monkey, is regarded as a very social animal and now he's returned to his troop following his excursion.
In a statement from the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland, 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"