A MONKEY gave hapless police the slip for more than an hour as it ran across a motorway in Sao Paulo.

Traffic was brought to a standstill as the officers half-heartedly wandered around after the mammal.

The brown Howler monkey gave Brazilian traffic cops the run around for over an hour along the Imigrantes highway in the state of Sao Paulo before being captured safely by animal experts.

The major route cuts through the dense tropical Atlantic rainforest and the ape, weighing around six kilos, emerged and crossed several lanes of traffic on late Thursday afternoon, until it got trapped on one stretch of the road.

The chase starts with one police officer casually walking after the animal, which does not look too concerned about where it is.

Then another officer joins in the effort to capture the loose monkey – but with neither of them doing much more than attempting to herd the animal using arm gestures they don't have much luck.

The small, dark-coloured monkey, continues to evade capture while lorries and cars wait on the Brazilian motorway.

Eventually a large team becomes involved and the monkey is caught and transported from the area in a box.

RELATED STORIES

The Howler, which is indigenous to the south-east region of Brazil, was first spotted by a concerned motorist as it tried to cross at junction 27, the turnoff for São Bernardo do Campo city.

The driver alerted authorities and the ape was eventually trapped by environmental agents from Ecovias concessionaire, the company responsible for managing the Imigrantes highway, and animal welfare experts.

The captured beast was taken to the Estoril Park Zoo, in São Bernardo do Campo.

Last month another primate was reported to have behaved badly when it greeted zoo visitors with what was apparently a Nazi salute.

The footage begins with the ape perched on a rock in its enclosure, seemingly innocently.

Children can be heard chatting and laughing in the background as people watch the animal – possibly unaware of what is to come.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the chimp raises its arm out straight in front of it, with its hand flat and its palm facing down.

And last year a graduate who freed chimpanzees from the cages of a research laboratory received a hug from the primates after going back 18 years later.

Animal behaviourist Linda Koebner set up a sanctuary and spent four years teaching the chimps how to be wild after releasing them from a hepatitis research lab.

Source: Read Full Article