LOUD NOISES SCARE
PRIMATES AT MAKOKOU
(Reuters) Libreville, Gabon. A series
of loud noises
has been making primates edgy in this part of Africa
for the past several months, and last Friday there was
a noise that frightened even the rumpled galagos,
close cousins of the more familiar stinky galagos, who
are not easily frightened. Some described it as the
sound of a large object falling into a swamp, while
others said it was more like the eerie sound of the fox-
eared bat, and a few stated that it definitely wasn't like
either of those.
Bluetails, who are
scared of almost any sound in
the forest, were the first to disappear, diving into their
unfortunately sodden burrows. Very soon, most other
primates were scurrying for cover on account of the
strange noise. Teddy Bidwell and Robert Louis
MacCown, who were doing a major balloon survey of
Gabonese wildlife at the time, heard the noise but they
didn't know what it was, so they ignored it. Dr.
Oondóué M. Boué, out searching for any bluetail
monkeys that might be around during a break in the
search for Professor Mitsuo Ohhohoho, was taking a
nap and slept through it.
Local witchdoctors
and primatologists agreed that
it was probably a meteorological phenomena, but
neither group was able to explain just what kind. Why
so many primate species reacted in the exact same
manner they did has so far defied any reasonable
explanation.
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