Thermal imaging drones deployed to hunt escaped monkey in Scottish Highlands

Authorities in Scotland launched a hunt for a monkey which escaped from a Scottish wildlife park two days ago. The search for the animal took an interesting turn on Tuesday (Jan 30) with reports of fresh sightings, as a local man stated that he saw the monkey stealing nuts from a bird feeder.

Japanese macaques are also called Japanese snow macaques or simply snow monkeys. They have opposable thumbs and are found mostly on Japanese islands of Honshu, Shikoku and Kyushu.

The Japanese macaques have human-like faces and cheek pouches for food storage. Their eyes are very expressive and their faces and bottoms become red in adulthood.

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The macaque escaped from Highland Wildlife Park near Kingussie, Inverness. The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland said that authorities deployed thermal imaging drones in the Scottish Highlands to try to capture a snow monkey.

The RZSS also noted that the animal was not thought to be dangerous to humans or pets but advised locals not to approach him.

As quoted in local reports, Keith Gilchrist, who is a living collections operations manager at Highland Wildlife Park said, "There has been a sighting of the macaque this morning, which we are currently responding to."

"Throughout the day our expert team of animal keepers will be patrolling the local area using a variety of techniques to try and coax him in, as well as using our thermal image drone contractor to aid with the search. Cairngorms Mountain Rescue has also kindly offered to support with their thermal imaging drone," he added.

"As with yesterday, we're asking locals to please bring any obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside, as we're hopeful that the monkey will return to the park if he can't find food elsewhere," he said.

"Although the macaque is not presumed dangerous to humans or pets, our advice is to not approach him but to contact our hotline on 07933928377 with any sightings," Gilchrist further said.

(With inputs from agencies)