Runaway monkey back at Belfast zoo

A moody three-foot tall monkey that led keepers on a merry chase for a week after escaping from the Belfast Zoo was back Monday.

Kevin, a rare black-and-white Colobus monkey native to Kenya, spent a week in woods behind the zoo near Belfast Castle after a dust-up with his father.

The 4-year-old monkey was spotted in gardens by area residents who fed him apples, spring onions and tomatoes and did not return until he tired of the wild life.

Zoo officials said Kevin appeared fine and well fed.

"It's obviously been a horrendous week for all of us at the zoo, so we are delighted he has returned," zoo manager Mark Challis told the Sun. "It sounds like he's had a cracking time. He had a week of just pottering about in the woodland."

Kevin was placed in an empty lion's enclosure until the zoo finds him a permanent new home in Europe. Officials say it's time for the growing young male to move away and start his own family.

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