The Smoking Chimp

 (Picture above Omega from the AP)



Omega is a 12-year-old chimpanzee who recently was rescued from a zoo in Lebanon and sent to Brazil. Why? Because he was smoking cigarettes! A group called Animals Lebanon (an Animal Rights group) found out that people visiting the zoo would throw cigarettes into his cage and he would smoke them - and the Lebanese zoo would not do anything to stop the people or stop Omega. So Animals Lebanon were able to save him and place him into a sanctuary in Sao Paolo, Brazil.

Lebanon has no laws to protect animals!

"In his younger years, Omega was used in one of the local restaurants to entertain people and was made to smoke cigarettes and serve water pipes to customers. After he grew stronger, he was locked up and taken to a zoo where for the past 10 years he has lived in a cage measuring 430 square feet (40 square meters)."

Good Job to Animals Lebanon for saving Omega before he continued down this destructive path of smoking! And if you are an animal - GET OUT OF LEBANON!

For more on this story: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101108/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_lebanon_smoking_chimpanzee;_ylt=Am7c_rbrN7O3hcnNfxGKmR4DW7oF;_ylu=X3oDMTMzZXRyMHJ0BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMTA4L21sX2xlYmFub25fc21va2luZ19jaGltcGFuemVlBHBvcwMxNARzZWMDeW5fYXJ0aWNsZV9zdW1tYXJ5X2xpc3QEc2xrA3Ntb2tpbmdjaGltcA--

It's Human Afterall!!

Last year scientists discovered a skeleton named Ardi that they thought may have been the missing link between humans and non-human primates. Now scientists are thinking that maybe this skeleton is really an early human and not a missing link.

For more go here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100527/ap_on_sc/us_sci_human_ancestor

Animals that could really Talk!

From the CNN - http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/wayoflife/05/14/mf.animals.that.could.talk/index.html?hpt=C2

(Dr. Roger Fouts tries to teach American Sign Language to a chimp named Lucy in 1972.

Nina Leen/Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images)

This story talks about different animals that you humans say "could really talk". They talk about 4 different animals from over 30 years ago so the news a bit old I think. But one of the stories is about Lucy the chimp. Its a sad story but don't worry - she was not a monkey, and Animal communications have come a long way. Just look at me and my blog! But the story of Lucy is not the first and its not the last about humans trying to teach chimps some human form of language.

Besides Lucy the Chimp there is Alex the Parrot, Blackie the Cat, and Hoover the Seal in the story.

The Chimpcam Project

Well I know we monkeys have made movies - But apparently some chimps are going to start to get in the game.

"The Chimpcam Project" is a documentary shot by actual chimpanzees and it will premiere this week. Some researches made a "chimp proof" camera and gave to a bunch of chimps that both live in the wild and in the zoo.

Check out the Trailer:

For more Go to the Discoblog (Disco Disco!)

Lusha - The stock picking Chimp!

Hi Everybody - it's me - MoJo - and this (above) is Lusha!

Lusha is a five-year-old Russian chimpanzee who is a circus performer and part-time stock analyst. She has beaten the rest of the country's investment funds by over 94%! Last year she picked 8 stocks and combined they have soared over 300% in value (that's a lot of monies)

That's awesome - good job Lusha!

She contends that it is just a hobby despite some offers from local investment houses and is sticking to the circus (and blowing bubbles).

For more on this story - Click Here or Here

This Guy has decided to use Lusha's Strategy!

Fall into the GAP

No not that GAP - but the Great Ape Protection project!

GAP's purpose is to guarantee the basic rights to life, freedom and non-torture of the non-human great apes – Chimpanzees, Gorillas, Orangutans and Bonobos, the closest relatives in the animal kingdom to humans.

We have covered lots of stories here at Piece of MoJo in which non-human primates have been abused by humans, and its good to see an organization such as GAP is out there fighting for the rights of non-human primates, and at the same time protecting them.

Rights to live along with freedom is very important to me - and my fellow monkeys; just as I'm sure its important to you! Some stories have come out in the past year that would hurt non-human primates rights- so you can see why an organization like this is so important.

If you would like more information on GAP - check out their website: http://www.greatapeproject.org

Just A Little Reminder for Mondays that..

...Some People's Sole Daily Mission Is Simply To TICK YOU OFF!

So try not to bite!!!!

(P.S. - That's a chimp by the way so don't look at me like that)

Orangutans Vs. Chimps!

Well I don't like to see fans of Orangutans and Chimps go at it, but it seems Humans are fighting about which primate (Orangutans or Chimps) did they evolve from.

Traditionally scientist believe that humans evolved from chimps - but a recent study says that maybe its Orangutans. This challenges a long time belief - but some scientists applaud the study because it challenges accepted ideas and gets people to think about things in a different light.

For more: http://www.upi.com/Science_News/2009/08/03/Study-Humans-came-from-orangs-not-chimps/UPI-99521249340387/

Chimp News

Yes more Chimp news for you - just a couple of quick links.

First of all a Chimp's memoir is among contenders for Booker Prize. "Me Cheeta" is one of 13 novels on the Booker Prize long-list. Originally published anonymously, James Lever's book claims to tell the life story of the chimp who gained 1930s Hollywood stardom in "Tarzan" movies.

For more: http://www.themanbookerprize.com/prize/books/390

And a new Chimp study (yes another one) - Scientists have often wondered why the human language is so different from the chimp language. New research has analyzed some chimp brains and found out that something in evolution might have changed some things. They are not completely certain yet, but this is the first step in figuring out the reason for the exact difference in languages (since chimps and humans are so closely related).

For more: http://blogs.sciencemag.org/origins/2009/07/chimp-study-offers-new-clues-t.html

More enlightening news about Primates - from Humans

You guys never seem to amaze me. Sometimes you come out with such obvious news about primates, and call it news. Sometimes I think its just a slow newsday and since many people don't seem to know much about non-human primates they think it is news.

Well if you would like some obvious news about primates here is another story for you on how chimps (like humans) pay attention to faces - even more than bananas. - From Science Daily - Chimps, Like Humans, Focus On Faces

And here is another story where they asked one chimp (Sakura) if she preferred easy listening music (like the Carpenters) to heavy metal music (like Metallica) - and she did. So now you guys think all chimps (and possibly other primates) think the same way.

I suggest that just because one chimp prefers one kind of music to the other, it doesn't mean they all do. Do you all like "I gotta Feeling" by the Black Eyed Peas because its number 1 on the Billboard Music Charts? Or should I just ask some people on the streets what they prefer and assume you all prefer whoever they tell me?

If you want to know more - Click Here

Also is it just me or has there been a lot of stories lately about Chimps?

RELEASE LISA MARIE!

A company called "Ed and Annette's Monkeys and More" of Chicago, Illinois has a baby chimp that puts on crowd-pleasing shows - named Lisa Marie Presley.

Unfortunately we have learned that when Lisa is not performing she is kept in a small cage under horrible conditions.

Both the organization known as PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and now the original human named Lisa Marie Presley (the human that the chimp was named after) are both demanding that she be released to a sanctuary so she can be properly cared for.

An anonymous whistle-blower brought it to PETA's attention that when being brought to these parties Lisa is being transported in a Rubbermaid Bin. Ed and Annette purchased Lisa from a primate breeder in Missouri, and under these conditions we fear that Lisa will grow weak and perhaps go to a roadside zoo to die. Maybe Lisa will even grow angry with her living conditions and get violent like Travis. I hope it doesn't come to that, but how I could blame Lisa?

We are not sure what we can to help, except to join in this outrage. My question is if Lisa is in this horrible situation, what other animals are being mistreated at "Ed and Annette's Monkeys and More"?

Click Here for Lisa's (the human) letter to Ed and Annette

For more - the story on The Post Chronical and the story on PETA's website

Sad News

2 Stories have recently come out about how the primate version of the virus that causes AIDS.

Basically all primates can die of AIDS; Human-Primates (you guys) first get infected with HIV, and nonhuman primates (like me) get infected with SIV. Scientists thought only Asian macaques (a monkey) could develop AIDS after being infected with SIV, but years of research has determined that is not the case.

First, scientists thought the virus was not harmful to their hosts (African chimpanzees), but a long-term study of a wild population found some chimps that were naturally infected with SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), die early and their babies die within a year of birth.

For More: Click Here

Related to this story is a story that changes the way we think this deadly virus can travel.

Recently a strain of SIV normally found in gorillas was found in a woman. This is the first time that a strain known to be found in gorillas was found in a human.

Unfortunately this demonstrates that this horrible virus is evolving, but Doctors have said this does not pose any new problems.

For more on this story Click Here

For more information on AIDS - Click Here

We here at Piece of MoJo don't like to share sad news, but thought it has to be reported so that the people know whats going on. Because at the end of the day what happens to one of us could very well effect the other.

- MoJo

BREAKING NEWS: Malaria may have come from chimps!

Scientists have found evidence of a parasite that causes most cases of malaria is a close genetic relative of a parasite found in chimpanzees. A report in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say that human version of Malaria is closely related to a parasite found in chimps.

Understanding how this chimp parasite became adapted to humans could help researchers trying to make a vaccine against malaria - which has been difficult.

This is not unlike AIDS - which is believed to have traveled from Chimps as well, as well as other diseases that originated from animals.

For more Click Here

Medicated Body Scratcher...

...Brought to you by Monkeys!

Specifically Spider Monkeys! In order to "one-up" the chimps these spider monkeys have made a body scratcher that may release medicinal compounds. This was released by the scientific journal Primates.

For more Click Here

(Back in March it was discovered that some chimps were using a "new tool" to scoop up termites - I'm not sure if its a new tool -more like a different use. I thought I told everyone about it, but now I can't find it - so here it is again- "Chimps Invent Brush Tool")

GO PHILLIES!

(Me and my Lucky Phillies Hat!)

Hi Everybody! It's me MoJo!

I'm not sure about Joe the Plumber but I sure was wearing my Lucky Phillies Hat on Wednesday when the Phillies beat the Dodgers to win the chance to go to the WORLD SERIES! I've been told its been a long time for them - SO GOOD LUCK PHILLIES!

It was a tough series for me. I like the Dodgers too because they are in California and they play the song I Love L.A. every time they do good. But the Phillies play the Rocky theme every time they do good so it was a tough series for me. (I still Love L.A.).

Anywho I also wanted to give my thumbs up to Keith LaChapelle. Keith used up all his money (and his retirement money) to build a Chimpanzee Sanctuary - for those unfortunate chimps who were kidnapped and used for animal testing. The first chimps he has saved are named Annie, Burrito, Foxie, Jamie, Jody, Missy, and Negra. HI GUYS!

For more information and to donate some money - http://www.chimpsanctuarynw.org/

News Story from ABC news: http://abcnews.go.com/WN/story?id=6049737&page=1