By Rainbow Starr
Environmental Reporter
ST. PETERSBURG, FLORIDA - First Robin Hood. Then Jesse James and John Dillinger. Now, Cornelius, aka, Monk, aka the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay has joined the list of famous fugitives who fought the law, and the law won.
After evading authorities for almost four years, the defiant monkey's life on the lam ended with betrayal and a hail of tranquilizer darts at high noon on Wednesday. The simian fugitive is now safely behind bars.
The 45-pound rhesus macaque is thought to be an outcast from a colony of wild monkeys in Silver Springs. The colony formed years ago when monkeys were released into the wild after serving as extras in a Tarzan film. For years, St. Petersburg residents spotted the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay peering in their windows, playing with children and family pets and even lounging beside their pools. He became the popular subject of tourist knickknacks and even his own website. The monkey evaded wildlife authorities in the city and in forests, and even shrugged off tranquilizer darts. They freely admitted that their efforts failed because the fugitive simian was aided, concealed and fed by the local human population.
Public opinion turned against Cornelius three weeks ago. He jumped on an unwary 60-year-old woman. She screamed, and the startled monkey bit her on the back. Nearby residents finally revealed that the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay was living in their neighborhood near Lake Maggoire. Wildlife authorities and the paparazzi swarmed the area. Cornelius shook branches, snarled defiantly and even charged a news crew. The government brought in a monkey expert. However, Cornelius stole the bananas from his traps without getting caught The trapper was ready to bring in a caged monkey to lure in the lone rebel with the prospect of companionship.
It proved not to be necessary. On Wednesday, the victim of the monkey bite was looking on as her daughter waved a banana outside her home and called Cornelius out of the foliage with calm kissing sounds. The authorities at the stake out shot a tranquilizer dart out of a sliding glass door. The trusting monkey pulled the dart from his torso, staggered across a nearby creek and climbed to a low branch. When he began swaying from the drugs, the wildlife officials closed in to finish him off. They snagged the monkey with a capture stick and shot him with another tranquilizer dart. He lost consciousness within one minute.
Residents caressed the sleeping monkey one last time as they bid farewell to their neighborhood celebrity. The victim of the monkey bite cried. She is voluntarily undergoing very painful rabies shots so that her attacker will not need to be killed to check if he has rabies. However, Cornelius will be quarantined for 30 days to make sure he does not carry any other contagious diseases. The monkey expert named his prisoner, Cornelius, after the main character played by Roddy McDowell in the first three Planet of the Apes films. That Cornelius was an intelligent chimpanzee, who was also shot while on the run from human authorities.
Closer examination has revealed that the Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay is about five years old. He is also in remarkably good health. In fact, he has grown fat from all the junk food that he has mooched from his human accomplices. Cornelius faces an uncertain future, depending on how well he reintegrates with other monkeys after living so long on his own. However, monkey sanctuaries across Florida are already vying to become the next home of the famous Mystery Monkey of Tampa Bay.
Meanwhile, the quiet neighborhood near Lake Maggoire has returned to normal. Some of the residents say, they already miss "seeing the monkey."
You can read the background about this story in "Monkey Bites St. Pete Woman" and "One Monkey vs. the World."
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