Nine monkeys die mysteriously at Hong Kong zoo

Zoo authorities in Hong Kong are investigating after nine monkeys of various species died of mysterious causes since Sunday.

HONG KONG — Zoo authorities in Hong Kong are keeping a close watch on a monkey that is behaving unusually a day after the ninth death this week of one of the animals while hastening tests to find out what killed them.

During the monitoring, the city’s Zoological and Botanical Gardens (HKZBG) will keep shut its mammals section, after having closed it for disinfection and cleaning on Monday.

“Government departments will speed up autopsy and toxicological testing,” the government said in a statement, as officials scrambled to pinpoint the cause of the deaths.

The ninth monkey, belonging to the white-faced saki species, died a day after Sunday’s deaths of a De Brazza’s monkey, a common squirrel monkey, three cotton-top tamarins and three white-faced sakis, the statement added.

Authorities will also keep watching the status of a De Brazza’s monkey that has displayed unusual movement response and appetite since Monday, it said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/nine-monkeys-die-mysteriously-hong-kong-zoo-rcna175432

---