Kicking the habit

Free State zoo wants chimp to quit smoking

A Bloemfontein zoo is trying to persuade its star chimpanzee to kick a bad smoking habit.

Charlie has been picking up cigarettes thrown to him by vsitors and smoking them - a habit he probably picked up by observing humans, zoo officials say.

"Baby chimps pick up habits by mimicking adults and we think he started mimicking smokers at his enclosure which probably led to smokers throwing him cigarettes," spokesperson Daryl Barnes said.

Barnes said Charlie was already showing the signs of a true nicotine addict and stated that people should stop providing Charlie with cigarettes or any other treats, noting the chimp already had three bad teeth because of all the cans of sweet soft drinks that people throw at him.

Charlie is not the only smoking chimpanzee. A zoo in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou reported last year that one of its chimps had taken up smoking and was desperately cadging cigarette butts off visitors.

(source: Reuters / 15 April 2005)