Jolie Rouge
08-08-2007, 01:13 PM
Dude, is that a monkey on your head or are you just glad to see me ?
Man smuggles monkey into NYC airport
Wed Aug 8, 11:50 AM ET
NEW YORK - A man smuggled a monkey onto an airplane Tuesday, stashing the furry fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said.
The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell. After landing Tuesday morning, the man waited several hours before catching a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport.
During the flight, people around the man noticed that the marmoset, which normally lives in forests and eats fruit and insects, had emerged from underneath his hat, Russell said. "Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him," she said.
The monkey spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and behaved well, said Russell, who didn't know how it skirted customs and security.
Airport police were waiting for the man and his monkey when the plane landed about 3 p.m., and the man was taken away for questioning. It was unclear whether he would face any criminal charges.
The city's animal control agency said the monkey appeared healthy. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to take it for disease testing and keep it quarantined for 31 days, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.
If the monkey is healthy, it could wind up in a zoo. "It is kind of a spirited monkey," Russell said. "That will be the nickname of the monkey: Spirit."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_fe_st/odd_monkey_on_a_plane;_ylt=AoEqIacl05z2WoxLtqyJ98c Z.3QA
Health Scare After Monkey Sneaks Onto Plane
Male Passenger Taken Into Custody For Questioning After Buying Monkey In Peru, Keeping It In The Open In Flight Cabin
(CBS) NEW YORK CBS 2 HD has learned a monkey was apparently sneaked into the United States with a passenger from Peru and let loose during a Spirit Airlines flight that landed at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday afternoon.
Officials say the monkey, a pygmy marmoset, apparently belonged to a male passenger from Lima, Peru. He bought the animal off the streets in Lima.
The man then smuggled the animal, which measures only about a foot tall, through security in Peru onto a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He then got past security again when he took a connecting flight from there to New York City, and he even kept the monkey out in the open mid-flight.
Passengers of that flight say they noticed a small monkey clinging to the man's ponytail during the flight and reported it to authorities.
When the flight arrived at LaGuardia, Port Authority officials met the man at the plane's door and immediately took him into custody for questioning. Animal Control officials took possession of the marmoset.
The man apparently told officials he wasn't aware he couldn't bring the animal back with him.
Now there are two major concerns as a result: how the man got the monkey past security, and any diseases that could be passed on from the marmoset to humans. "We don't know if it's harboring any bacteria or diseases, so the CDC is rightly concerned," an Animal Control official told CBS 2 HD.
Transportation Security Administration officials say the animal is so small it could have easily passed through security without detection, but they are investigating.
Witnesses worried of an outbreak that could result from the monkey being out in the open. "There may be worse things that could happen -- it could grow into one of those big ones," one passenger said.
The monkey is currently being held at the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia where it's being examined.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_219154131.html
... the animal, which measures only about a foot tall ...
Transportation Security Administration officials say the animal is so small it could have easily passed through security without detection, but they are investigating.
I want to see that ponytail if it fooled TSA. That’s got to be one hell of a hairdo. You can’t get kids’ sippy cups or juice boxes past TSA. People have had to throw away toothpaste, hand lotion, shampoo and lip balm before boarding flights. Nail clippers and finger nail files are confinscated ....But a guy can sneak his living, breathing, furry pygmy marmoset onto two planes?
TSA: Tolerating Smuggled Animals
Man smuggles monkey into NYC airport
Wed Aug 8, 11:50 AM ET
NEW YORK - A man smuggled a monkey onto an airplane Tuesday, stashing the furry fist-size primate under his hat until passengers spotted it perched on his ponytail, an airline official said.
The monkey escapade began in Lima, Peru, late Monday, when the man boarded a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., said Spirit Airlines spokeswoman Alison Russell. After landing Tuesday morning, the man waited several hours before catching a connecting flight to LaGuardia Airport.
During the flight, people around the man noticed that the marmoset, which normally lives in forests and eats fruit and insects, had emerged from underneath his hat, Russell said. "Other passengers asked the man if he knew he had a monkey on him," she said.
The monkey spent the remainder of the flight in the man's seat and behaved well, said Russell, who didn't know how it skirted customs and security.
Airport police were waiting for the man and his monkey when the plane landed about 3 p.m., and the man was taken away for questioning. It was unclear whether he would face any criminal charges.
The city's animal control agency said the monkey appeared healthy. But the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was planning to take it for disease testing and keep it quarantined for 31 days, CDC spokesman Tom Skinner said.
If the monkey is healthy, it could wind up in a zoo. "It is kind of a spirited monkey," Russell said. "That will be the nickname of the monkey: Spirit."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070808/ap_on_fe_st/odd_monkey_on_a_plane;_ylt=AoEqIacl05z2WoxLtqyJ98c Z.3QA
Health Scare After Monkey Sneaks Onto Plane
Male Passenger Taken Into Custody For Questioning After Buying Monkey In Peru, Keeping It In The Open In Flight Cabin
(CBS) NEW YORK CBS 2 HD has learned a monkey was apparently sneaked into the United States with a passenger from Peru and let loose during a Spirit Airlines flight that landed at LaGuardia Airport Tuesday afternoon.
Officials say the monkey, a pygmy marmoset, apparently belonged to a male passenger from Lima, Peru. He bought the animal off the streets in Lima.
The man then smuggled the animal, which measures only about a foot tall, through security in Peru onto a flight to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. He then got past security again when he took a connecting flight from there to New York City, and he even kept the monkey out in the open mid-flight.
Passengers of that flight say they noticed a small monkey clinging to the man's ponytail during the flight and reported it to authorities.
When the flight arrived at LaGuardia, Port Authority officials met the man at the plane's door and immediately took him into custody for questioning. Animal Control officials took possession of the marmoset.
The man apparently told officials he wasn't aware he couldn't bring the animal back with him.
Now there are two major concerns as a result: how the man got the monkey past security, and any diseases that could be passed on from the marmoset to humans. "We don't know if it's harboring any bacteria or diseases, so the CDC is rightly concerned," an Animal Control official told CBS 2 HD.
Transportation Security Administration officials say the animal is so small it could have easily passed through security without detection, but they are investigating.
Witnesses worried of an outbreak that could result from the monkey being out in the open. "There may be worse things that could happen -- it could grow into one of those big ones," one passenger said.
The monkey is currently being held at the Marine Air Terminal at LaGuardia where it's being examined.
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/local_story_219154131.html
... the animal, which measures only about a foot tall ...
Transportation Security Administration officials say the animal is so small it could have easily passed through security without detection, but they are investigating.
I want to see that ponytail if it fooled TSA. That’s got to be one hell of a hairdo. You can’t get kids’ sippy cups or juice boxes past TSA. People have had to throw away toothpaste, hand lotion, shampoo and lip balm before boarding flights. Nail clippers and finger nail files are confinscated ....But a guy can sneak his living, breathing, furry pygmy marmoset onto two planes?
TSA: Tolerating Smuggled Animals