WE know monkeys are similar to humans – they can even teach their young how to floss teeth – but now scientists have shown that they like to watch TV.

Boffins in Japan studied a three-year-old male rhesus macaque watching a video of circus animals – and found that he enjoyed watching the elephant, giraffe and tiger performing, reports orange.co.uk

Using a technique to examine blood flow to the brain, it found that the frontal lobe area became vigorously active when watching the box, suggesting the monkey was enjoying himself. In humans, we see a similar response when a baby sees the smile of its mother. Not to worry, we’re sure how to turn off the monkey from a TV habit. Make him watch wall-to-wall Big Brother.

Monkey business 2

DEE DARWELL decided to take a trip to Monkey Island to conquer her fear of primates.

But she was left unconscious after being attacked by a pack of macaques on her Thailand holiday, reports The Telegraph.

Dee, 56, from Peterborough, passed out as one monkey bit her, then another and she became surrounded by a whole pack. She collapsed with blood spurting from her arm and had to be rescued by Thai boatmen, who prised the monkeys away. Dee said she had had a fear of primates as a result of her father bringing up a chimpanzee which she described as “positively evil.”

Man saves 160 from suicide

AN Australian man who lives opposite the country’s most famous suicide spot reckons he’s saved more than 160 people from plunging over.

Don Ritchie has lived across the street from a cliff known as “The Gap” for 50 years. Every day, he is on look-out for anyone standing alone too close to the precipice, reports Gawker.com. If he sees someone who looks like they might be contemplating a jump, he walks over and, strikes up a conversation, and invites them back to his house for tea. Sometimes, they join him.

Barbecued bushmeat anyone?

FORGET snails and frogs’ legs, French diners are broadening their tastebuds with the likes of monkey carcasses, smoked anteater and even preserved porcupine.

A new study has found more than five tonnes of bushmeat slips through the city’s main airport each week, says Yahoo.com

Experts suspect similar amounts are arriving in other European hubs as well – an illegal trade that is raising concerns about diseases ranging from monkeypox to Ebola.

The research, the first time experts have documented how much bushmeat is smuggled into any European city, was published in the journal, Conservation Letters. Scientists warned eating bushmeat was a potential health hazard.

Tooth takes flight

A home video of a dad attaching a rocket to the loose tooth of his young son has become an internet sensation.

Bradley Harris posted video footage of his son on YouTube with this message: “My son wanted to pull out his tooth his way.”

More than 442,500 people have viewed the footage which shows his son Jimmy using a rocket to pull out his loose tooth.

The video begins by showing the model rocket attached to lots of string, which is tied to Jimmy’s tooth. After a quick lesson from his father on how to fire a rocket, Jimmy presses a couple of buttons and the rocket takes off – with the tooth.

The launch makes a loud swooshing noise. Clearly impressed and amused, Mr Harris congratulates his son on a job well done. “The tooth fairy’s gonna give you money because that was the coolest tooth pulling out I’ve ever seen.”