T-Shirts commemorating Oliver, a capuchin monkey who escaped twice in one week from a zoo in Tupelo, Mississippi, USA went on sale at the zoo this week. “We ordered 1,000 of them,” said Ann Stewart, gift shop manager at the zoo. Since running away two months ago, Oliver has become a local celebrity. After a few people designed printed T-Shirts, the zoo decided to create their own and sell them to visitors who had heard about Oliver’s daring escapes.As for Oliver, he has readjusted to life within the zoo. “There is nothing new with him, thank goodness,” said park manager Kirk Nemecheck. Oliver, who was on the run for a week after escaping a second time, spends hours looking at the locks on his cage studying how they work. So far, he has not made any other attempts to escape.
But, for a short time, he did increase the amount of visitors to the zoo. “We had a guy from Wyoming who came to Tupelo visit his mother and came to the park especially to see Oliver. He said, ‘I want to meet that monkey,’” said Stewart. T-Shirts will be on sale in the gift shop and online for those who want to purchase them.
(c)Maarten Uilenbroek, www.sxc.hu
