#Baboons armed with knives, chainsaw spotted in UK safari park

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A baboon at Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside
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There’s some real monkey business at a British safari park, where a roving gang of baboons armed with knives and even a chainsaw has been wreaking havoc and sowing fear, according to a report.

The prowling primates are known to have vandalized vehicles, ripping off windscreen wipers and mirrors from them at the Knowsley Safari Park in Merseyside, The Sunday Times reported.

But the baboons have recently been seen carrying an assortment of weapons, including blades, screwdrivers and a chainsaw, leading some workers to suspect that visitors have supplied them with the dangerous items for a thrill, according to the news outlet.

“We’re not sure if they are being given weapons by some of the guests who want to see them attack cars, or if they’re fishing them out of pickup trucks and vans,” one employee told the paper.

“They will literally go into people’s toolboxes and carry them around. One of the baboons was seen lugging around a chainsaw.”

Park officials pushed back at the reports, suggesting that armed apes were an urban myth.

“We believe many of these stories have grown in exaggeration as they’ve been retold, with embellishment to make the objects that are sometimes found in the enclosure seem more exciting and unbelievable,” the park told the news outlet.

The monkey enclosure is well known to mechanics in the northwest area of England where the 550-acre park, which also houses lions, tigers, rhinos, wildebeest and camels, is located.

“People know what’s going to happen when they drive inside,” one mechanic told the outlet. “I’ve had two customers this year who became victims of those baboons.

“I’ve a mate with a garage in St. Helens and it’s exactly the same. The kids start chirping up saying they want monkeys all over the car, and the next thing you know, you’re driving home with no registration plate. Good money for us, mind you, so I’m not complaining,” he added.

Knowsley, which reopened on June 15 with security measures amid the coronavirus pandemic, argued that it was as safe as a McDonald’s drive-through since visitors remain in their vehicles.