Date:23/07/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/07/23/stories/2004072304302000.htm

International

The missing link?

JERUSALEM, JULY 22. A young monkey at an Israeli zoo has started walking like a human being, following a near death experience. Natasha (in picture), a small five-year-old black macaque monkey at a safari park near Tel Aviv, began walking exclusively upright on two legs after a stomach ailment nearly killed it.

Monkeys usually alternate between upright movement and walking on all fours.

Two weeks ago, Natasha and three other monkeys were diagnosed with severe stomach flu. At the zoo clinic, it slipped into critical condition.

``I was sure that she was going to die,'' the veterinarian said. ``She could hardly breathe, and her heart was not functioning properly.''

After intensive treatment, Natasha's condition stabilised, but it exhibited strange behaviour, and a day after being released from the clinic, it began walking erect like a human being.

``I have never seen or heard of this before,'' said the vet.

Apart from its evolutionally advanced perambulation, Natasha's behaviour is normal.