Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

California police respond to 911 call from zoo made by a monkey

‘Our Deputies have seen their fair share of ‘monkey business’ in the County. But nothing quite like this,’ police department says

Graeme Massie
Los Angeles
Tuesday 16 August 2022 21:20 BST
Comments
California law enforcement responded to a 911 call from a zoo - only to find that they had been called out by Route the monkey.
California law enforcement responded to a 911 call from a zoo - only to find that they had been called out by Route the monkey. (San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

California law enforcement responded to a 911 call from a zoo – only to find that they had been called out by a monkey.

San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s Office says its dispatchers received the emergency call from the “Zoo to You” in Paso Robles, California, over the weekend.

When the call got disconnected, officers tried to text and call back without any success, the department explained on social media.

“Our Deputies have seen their fair share of ‘monkey business’ in the County. But nothing quite like this,” the department said on Facebook.

But when deputies they got to the zoo they discovered that nobody there had placed the 911 call, and it emerged that Route the Capuchin monkey was to blame.

“Was someone trying to make us look like a monkey’s uncle? Then they all realized... it must have been Route the Capuchin monkey. Apparently, Route had picked up the zoo’s cell phone... which was in the zoo’s golf cart... which is used to travel around the zoo’s 40-acre site,” the deprtment added.

“We’re told Capuchin monkeys are very inquisitive and will grab anything and everything and just start pushing buttons.

And that’s what Route did... just so happened it was in the right combination of numbers to call us.”

The department also posted pictures of Route to their Facebook page.

“As you can tell from these photos, Route is a little embarrassed by the whole thing. But you can’t really blame her, after all monkey see, monkey do,” the department wrote.

Capuchin monkeys are common to the tropical forests of Central and South America.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in