Runaway zoo monkey finally brought to heel

updated 4:11 a.m. ET Aug. 7, 2007

TUPELO, Miss. - A curious monkey who somehow managed to free himself from his pen in the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo and was on the lam for days was finally recaptured Monday.

Oliver was apprehended at Tupelo Stone & Masonry, the Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal reported, six days after leading park staff on a chase through the park's trail system before eventually eluding them.

Several days after the monkey's July 31 escape, an anonymous businessman offered a reward for the white-faced capuchin's capture and return. Motorist Mike Fair, who helped end the search for Oliver, got the reward.

"I think it's great," said Fair, of Mooreville.

The reward included a weekend stay at the Tupelo Hilton Garden Inn and special tours of the Elvis Presley Birthplace and Museum and the Tupelo Automobile Museum. The reward also included one of Oliver's favorite foods — a case of bananas.

"But the bananas — I don't know about that," said Fair. "I'll just end up giving them to the monkey, I guess."

It wasn't the first time Oliver, 9, had escaped from the zoo. About six years ago the monkey escaped and ran amok on the grounds of Tupelo Country Club before being captured and returned to the zoo.

Within minutes of returning home after his latest adventure, Oliver feasted on grapes, marshmallows, monkey biscuits and bananas, and then took a long nap.

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