Windjammer
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Pakistan asked to release Bobby the border crossing monkey
Animal welfare campaigners have asked Pakistan to free a monkey caught crossing the border from India without a passport or visa.
Bobby, as he has been nicknamed, created a stir when he was captured by paramilitary forces at a checkpoint last month and has become a star attraction at the zoo where he lives with a Pakistani monkey Raju.
His illicit arrival in Pakistan immediately provoked suspicions that he was an Indian agent, sent to gather intelligence on Delhi's nuclear-armed rival.
Now the Federation of Indian Animal Protection Organisations has written to ask that he be returned the wild.
"Captivity is cruel for animals meant to roam free," wrote the groups, convener, Arpan.
"On behalf of all our member organisations and thousands of supporters we urge you to kindly rehabilitate any trespassing animals in their natural environment and not in the pitiable prisons-zoo." Last year police in India "arrested" a pigeon on suspicion of spying for Pakistan.
Irfan Farooqi, curator of Bahawalpur zoo, said he thought Bobby was not a secret agent.
"We don't suspect the monkey has been deliberately sent to Pakistan. I don't think it is a trained spy. It is a common monkey," he told AFP news agency.
Pakistan asked to release Bobby the border crossing monkey - Telegraph
