We all love a little monkey business

Mussa's the one on the right.

Even the most hard-bitten and cynical amongst us will have had their grumpy hearts melted a little this week by a baby chimp called Mussa. (Yes, even me.)

A video, released by Lwiro Primates, a chimp and monkey sanctuary in the Democratic Republic of Congo, shows the cute little guy being rescued and flown to safety by an anti-poaching pilot.

If this wasn’t already lovely enough, the footage shows the tiny chimp exploring the cockpit of the tiny two-seater aircraft, before hopping on the lap of the pilot and curiously watching as they lift off, with a level of calm I’m sure most of us would struggle to achieve, even after a 7am beer at the airport.

So relaxed does our chimp chum become, he even manages to enjoy a spot of grooming from his new friend and have a play with the controls, before getting 40 winks in like a seasoned traveller.

He is, of course, now an internet sensation (along with his rescuer) and is spending a while in quarantine with some other babies who have also been orphaned by poachers. The prime-time primate isn’t only increasing the worldwide “Aww!” factor substantially, but helping to raise awareness about conservation, and the problems caused by poachers.

As pilot, Anthony Caere, points out, “This looks cute but is actually a sad story. He should be with his mum... But happy we could give him a new good home!”

Here’s to a happy future for the Simian superstar.

This post first appeared as the second piece in my column/page in The Mail and the News & Star, on the 9th of March 2018.

All together now - NAWWWWWWW!!!! Just in case you've been under a rock, here's the video...

(CD A-Z: Stevie Wonder's "The Definitive Collection")

Comments

Suffering from natural obsolescence

You know you’re getting old when it dawns on you that you’re outliving technological breakthroughs. You know the sort of thing – something revolutionary, that heralds a seismic shift it the way the modern world operates. Clever, time-saving, breathtaking and life-changing (and featuring a circuit board). It’s the future, baby! Until it isn’t any more. I got to pondering this when we laughed heartily in the office about someone asking if our camcorder used “tape”. Tape? Get with the times, Daddy-o! If it ain’t digital then for-get-it! I then attempted to explain to an impossibly young colleague that video tape in a camcorder was indeed once a “thing”, requiring the carrying of something the size of a briefcase around on your shoulder, containing batteries normally reserved for a bus, and a start-up time from pressing ‘Record’ so lengthy, couples were already getting divorced by the time it was ready to record them saying “I do”. After explaining what tape was, I realised I’d ...

A fisful of change at the shops

A recent day out reminded me how much the retail experience has altered during my lifetime – and it’s not all good. I could stop typing this, and buy a fridge, in a matter of seconds. The shops are shut and it’s 9pm, but I could still place the order and arrange delivery. I haven’t got to wander round a white-goods retail emporium trying to work out which slightly different version of something that keeps my cider cold is better. It’ll be cheaper, too. But in amongst the convenience, endless choice and bargains, we’ve lost some of the personal, human, touches that used to make a trip to the shops something more than just a daily chore. Last weekend, we visited a local coastal town. Amongst the shops selling over-priced imported home accessories (who doesn’t need another roughly-hewn wooden heart, poorly painted and a bargain at £10?) was one that looked different. It’s window allowed you to see in, rather than being plastered with stick-on graphics and special offers calling ...

"It's all gone quiet..." said Roobarb

If, like me, you grew up (and I’m aware of the irony in that) in the ‘70s, February was a tough month, with the sad news that Richard Briers and Bob Godfrey had died. Briers had a distinguished acting career and is, quite rightly, fondly remembered most for his character in ‘The Good Life’. Amongst his many roles, both serious and comedic, he also lent his voice to a startling bit of animation that burst it’s wobbly way on to our wooden-box-surrounded screens in 1974. The 1970s seemed to be largely hued in varying shades of beige, with hints of mustard yellow and burnt orange, and colour TV was a relatively new experience still, so the animated adventures of a daft dog and caustic cat who were the shades of dayglo green and pink normally reserved for highlighter pens, must have been a bit of a shock to the eyes at the time. It caused mine to open very wide indeed. Roobarb was written by Grange Calveley, and brought vividly into life by Godfrey, whose strange, shaky-looking sty...

grumpyf1

Search This Blog