(Article) BBC NEWS World Asia-Pacific Smoking China chimp kicks habit

October 5, 2005

October 6, 2005

This is truly gross, but more useful to members and you if you can post the

entire article and the link so we do not have to make the decision " is it worth

following " .

Regards,

Kirsten

aapn [aapn ]On Behalf Of Le

Petit Chien

Wednesday, October 05, 2005 3:42 AM

aapn

(Article) BBC NEWS World Asia-Pacific Smoking China chimp

kicks habit

Smoking China chimp kicks habit

Ai Ai took up smoking after losing her first mate

A female chimpanzee in a Chinese zoo has managed to kick the habit after smoking

for 16 years, Xinhua news agency reported.

Ai Ai, 27, first took up smoking after her mate died in 1989.

After a second spouse died in 1997 and her daughter was moved to another zoo,

the broken-hearted chimp's health reportedly started deteriorating.

Zoo keepers say they are giving her mouth-watering food and playing pop music to

improve her mood.

" In the first few days, she squealed for cigarettes every now and then, " Xinhua

reported one zookeeper at the safari park in the Shaanxi province, north-west

China, as saying.

" But as her life became more colourful, she gradually forgot about them

altogether. "

Her new, busy lifestyle includes walking after breakfast, exercising in the

evening and being served " fried dishes and dumplings at every meal " on top of

bananas, rice and milk, he said.

Now and then, she can also borrow her human friend's walkman to listen to music.

It is not clear how Ai Ai developed her addiction, and whether she was first

given cigarettes from the same guardians who have helped her quit.

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