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French police 'Taser aggressive stray monkey'

The macaque had reportedly become enraged on chocolate fed to it by children in a Marseille district where it had roamed for several weeks.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

French police had to use a stun gun to take down an aggressive monkey that was running amok in a Marseille neighbourhood, its rampage fuelled in part by chocolate given to it by children, according to a report from a French newspaper, reports CBC News.

The North African macaque was the subject of more than a dozen calls to police in the Castellanne neighbourhood — including one report that it scratched children at a local elementary school — over the last few weeks, according to La Provence

Police say the animal was being fed Kinder chocolates by local children.

Authorities say it was likely abandoned recently after being kept illegally. The animal may have been abused and an investigation to locate its previous owner has been opened, one report says.

Read more of this report from CBC News.