May 09, 2008	Friday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 3, 1429

YANGON, May 8: Monkeys that escaped from Yangon’s zoo during last weekend’s cyclone have returned to their cages after spending a few days swinging through debris strewn around the city, the zookeeper said on Thursday.

“Several monkeys ran away when their cages were destroyed when the storm hit,” Myint Nyein, director of the Yangon Zoological Garden said.

“But they came back to the zoo after the storm. Nothing happened to most of the animals, although some of the cages were destroyed during the storm.” Dangerous animals such as lions, tigers, crocodiles and snakes had been locked in sturdy cages inside their pens before the storm, Myint Nyein said.

“We are lucky that we caged them in time,” he said.

Some deer were injured by falling trees, but they were being treated, he added.

“The animals are in good health now. We are not expecting any epidemics to break out among the animals,” he said.

“We still have foods in stock for them, and we restored our supply of clean water,” he added.—AFP