Chinese safari park dyes monkeys red and yellow

Beijing - The Chinese have a special relationship with monkeys, but one safari park has taken matters to extremes by dying its primates bright red and yellow to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

The monkeys at the Forest Safari Park of Shenyang in northeastern Liaoning province are now multicoloured to celebrate the Year of the Monkey which began on Thursday.

A member of staff at the park told the official Xinhua news agency that painting the primates was no easy job as they had refused to cooperate.

"We had to anaesthetize them first", he said.

"They seemed to be surprised at their new strange coats when they woke up. But after a while, they indulged themselves in pleasure."

Xu Dianju, president of the park's Wild Animal Hospital, said the park also dyed their horses with colored strips to make them look like zebras.

But animal welfare officials were not amused.

"If it is proved to be maltreating wild animals, then we will take necessary actions to protect them," said Zhu Chengwei, director of the Shenyang Wild Animal Protection Station. -- AFP News

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