The disadvantages of being cute and clever

I mentioned yesterday that the inspiration for my story was a little resident of the Monkey Sanctuary in Cornwall who we 'adopted'. Adopters are kept in touch through photos and news and my son and I fell in love with him - he'd had a really bad time but was brave and resourceful. He learned to climb trees and persevered with the socialisation and is now an invaluable member of the group, helping new arrivals to settle in.

Capuchins are very agile and capable as well as being one of the most intelligent monkeys. For example:

• Capuchins have very dexterous fingers that give them perfect precision grip
• They employ a variety of nut-cracking techniques using rocks as hammers
• In the wild they use rocks and sticks as ammunition to scare off predators
• They crush up millipedes and rub the remains on their backs to repel mosquitoes
• Their brain to total weight proportion is high (1.9% of total weight in comparison to 2% for humans, 0.9% for chimps)

Although it would be preferable that studies were not conducted and the animals were just left alone, investigations have demonstrated that if given the choice capuchins will consistently opt for both themselves and a friend to receive food rather than just themselves; are able to choose a food they prefer from a token with a symbolic representation on it; and can recognise their friends in photographs.

Unfortunately for capuchins, all of this makes them very attractive as working animals or in entertainment, and their cute looks, especially as babies, make them seem like a good idea for a pet. More on that tomorrow.