Fugitive monkey busted at bird feeder in Scottish Highlands after four nights on run

Missing Japanese macaque struck by anaesthetic dart as he enjoyed a morning snack.

The breakfast, it turned out, was his last taste of freedom.

As he quietly enjoyed a mouthful of peanuts in the back garden of a house in Kincraig, the adventures of Honshu, the Japanese macaque, swiftly came to an end with the firing of an anaesthetic dart.

On the run for four nights from Highland Wildlife Park, it was game over for the monkey, who crossed railway lines, navigated roads and dodged drones after breaking out of his enclosure on Sunday morning.

A Japanese Macaque that went on the run for four nights in the Highlands has been captured and returned to its home at the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig. PIC: Carl Nagle.

Shortly after 10am on Thursday, rangers – alerted to the animal’s location at the bird feeder from a member of the public – entered the garden with the monkey in their sights.

The successful capture brought to an end the journey of Honshu – nicknamed ‘Kingussie Kong’ by locals – whose fame grew hour by hour as he remained at large.

Now, he has been returned to his enclosure – and is set to be reintroduced to the group that he fled, possibly to dodge a fight amongst rival males.

Keith Gilchrist, the park’s living collections operations manager, said: “We can confirm we have successfully caught the macaque that escaped from the park on Sunday, named Honshu.

“After a call to our hotline just after 10am, our keepers and drone team made their way to a member of the public’s garden where the monkey was eating from a bird feeder and successfully used a tranquilliser dart to catch him."

Mr Gilchrist said Honshu would be looked over by park vets before re-joining male members of his group. He said: “We want to thank everyone who has helped during the process and will continue to share any further updates.”

On Sunday, Honshu crossed the main Perth to Inverness rail line and a number of roads before being spotted in back gardens in Kincraig. Cairngorm Mountain Rescue Team was called in to aid the search for the monkey using thermal imaging equipment.

Drone footage captured on Tuesday, with help from BH Wildlife Consultancy, showed the monkey roaming about underneath trees and sitting in undergrowth to have a look about before loping off.

Then, the monkey was around 300m (about 980ft) north of the entry to the park.

Japanese macaques – also known as snow monkeys – have been successfully bred at the zoo for a number of years. Around 40 monkeys call Highland Wildlife Park home, but for four nights the macaque had a taste of life outside the perimeter fence.

As the hunt for the macaque got underway, people in the area were urged to bring obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside to encourage the monkey to make its way back to the park.

One resident of Kincraig described the monkey as looking “shifty” as he took nuts from a bird feeder in his back garden on Sunday morning.

The public was advised not to approach the animal, although it was presumed not to be dangerous to humans or pets. The Japanese macaque is the most northerly living non-human primate, according to park operators the Royal Zoological Society of Scotland.