As WVLT VOLUNTEER TV News first reported last week, there is some monkey business going on in Campbell County. Some people there said they have seen a primate terrorizing residents and pets.
Chloe Morroni talked with a primate expert to find out more about the creature.
Campbell County's 911 center has been receiving calls about the creature for weeks. "They're saying it's a chimpanzee, a large chimpanzee," said 911 dispatcher Kamille Barnes. "It's killing their cats."
Barnes lives in the College Hill community, which is where the creature has been sighted. She believes it came into her house. "My basement door was left open, and something came in and scattered all the clothes and stuff stored in the basement," she said.
UT Veterinary School primate expert Dr. Edward Ramsey said the creature that is making its presence known in Campbell County is likely not a chimpanzee like those found at the Knoxville Zoo. "Chimps are really rare as private pets, so chances that this is a chimp are pretty remote," he said.
He did say it may very well be some type of monkey. "There are unfortunately still a fair number of monkeys still in private hands," he said. "We've had one or two times [that] an animal escaped from a private zoo in Pigeon Forge."
Ramsey said that whatever kind of primate it may be, he does not believe it's responsible for the recent pet deaths in the area. "Odds are, if it killed anything, I don't think it would kill many and it wouldn't kill repeatedly. Virtually every primate is herbivorous."
He said that if a monkey is on the loose, it's a perfect example of why most exotic animals don't make good pets. "We don't think it's appropriate for people to keep -- specifically -- macaques as pets because of the ability to carry fatal disease," he said. "They're not trainable in the traditional animal sense of the term."
LaFollette animal control is investigating the situation. Knoxville Zoo officials said if the animal is caught, the zoo likely would not be able to take it, and it may have to be euthanized.
Search underway for Loose Primate in Campbell County
October 20, 2003
By VINCE LENNON
6 News Reporter
JACKSBORO (WATE) -- Animal control officers in Campbell County are searching for a primate, perhaps weighing 400 pounds, that's on the loose. And nearly 100 pets are missing.
"I didn't really get a good look at his face because he didn't hang around all that long," Donna Keathley said about when she saw an ape-like creature last week in LaFollette. "But he's big and he's got a really bad stinkful odor to him."
LaFollette Animal Control Officer George Moses said, "I believe that the people believe that they see it. I don't have any reason to doubt them, that they're mistaken."
Moses said he hasn't seen the animal but he's certainly heard of it. He started getting calls about it three weeks ago. All the alleged sightings center on the College Hill community, just outside the LaFollette city limits.
Coinciding with the sightings are numerous reports of missing cats and kittens. "All told, over 100" are missing, Moses said.
According to Donna Keathley, when she startled the animal, "This kitten he threw at me, no one knows where it come from."
One College Hill man claims the primate is an orangutan.
One College Hill man, who declined to be identified, claims the primate is an orangutan. He said he saw it Tuesday morning leaving stool samples on his property.
Many College Hill residents believe the animal escaped a circus that performed at the nearby National Guard armory a few months back. But the LaFollette Police Department and the Campbell County Sheriff's Department didn't take any reports of a missing animal.
Donna Keathley said her neighbors are ready to shoot the animal. "If I had a gun, I would've shot it."
Several people told 6 News Monday that they want the animal caught or killed before Halloween so it can't attack a child or another pet.
Campbell County officers warn anyone who sees the animal not to attempt capturing it. It's considered dangerous. Instead, any sighting should be reported immediately to LaFollette Animal Control at (423)-566-1383.
Missing cats leave animal control officer wondering
By CLIFF HIGHTOWER, hightowerc@knews.com
October 21, 2003
A LaFollette animal control officer said Tuesday that several Campbell County residents have reported more than 100 cats missing over the past three weeks.
George Moses said residents speculate the culprit might be anything from a black bear to a monkey or an ape.
"I have never seen this monkey," Moses said.
He said residents have reported seeing a 3-1/2-foot-tall primate around their homes in the College Hill area near LaFollette before the cats went missing.
He spoke to the University of Tennessee Veterinary Department on Tuesday and was told that if it was a monkey or an ape, then it might weigh approximately 80-100 pounds, he said.
Moses said residents should understand that it could be potentially dangerous.
"If it is out there, they need to stay away from it," Moses said.
He said one person who lives in the area had 83 cats she kept in her yard.
"She's now down to nine," he said.
He said rumors abound about a mysterious entity that is lurking around the area and how it got there. One theory is that it escaped from a circus that was in town a few weeks ago.
But he said the circus never reported a missing animal.
He said another speculation is that it could be a black bear.
"It could be a cinnamon black bear," he said. "But that's just speculation."
He said an animal rescue group from Oliver Springs has volunteered to capture the animal, if it is some sort of primate.
In the meantime, he has been searching for the animal, but has been unsuccessful.
"I'm the only animal control officer in the county," he said.
Moses said if anyone sees the mysterious animal, they could contact him at 423-566-1583.
"I've never actually seen it, though," he said. "So everything is just speculation."
Cliff Hightower may be reached at 865-342-6305.
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.60 on Oct 21, 2003 8:44 PM
I live near the area this is going on. I spoke with someone this morning and was informed that these sighting have been going on for over 30 years. This isn't a chimp or any other kind of Old World primate, in my opinion. There was a high amount of meat in the stool samples collected, ruling out most known Old World primates. I am going to try and get some photos or video. If I had the resources I would try and safely capture it but that's getting way out of my league.
I wish you luck on trying to find the creature Chris. I hope it turns out to be more proof of the elusive primate we have been looking for, for so long. It never hurts to hope.
ranshirl
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.68 on Oct 22, 2003 11:40 AM
Hello,this all sounds real good and I like the idea of catching one of these wonderful creatures and would love to be part of something of this nature,Im a researcher as you may be yourself,anyway fill free to contact me anytime,later...R.Mixon
CAMPBELL COUNTY (WATE) -- After seeing reports of primate sightings in Campbell County, a Knoxville Zoo veterinary consultant said he doubts the animal is a skunk ape.
Dr. Ed Ramsey, who teaches at UT, said Thursday he thinks, "...the skunk ape looks like a new world monkey to me. So I'd say if this animal has a six-foot relative out in Campbell County, it would be, I would say, almost impossible to believe. They're typically about 15 to 25 pounds max."
Dr. Ed Ramsey said the skunk ape looks more like a new world monkey to him.
But Ramsey won't totally discount the possibility that the creature is a skunk ape. But he wants more proof before believing it's a skunk ape that's behind a rash of pet deaths. Pictures of a skunk ape allegedly taken in Sarasota County, Florida three years ago do little for Ramsey and the skunk ape argument.
Ramsey also said that monkeys are plant-eaters. If they eat meat it's usually insects and eggs, not cats.
Ramsey thinks people are looking in the wrong direction. "If you have an animal that's killing pets, I would actually be more concerned that there's some sort of carnivore that might be out there, a large cat, a mean dog, aggressive dog, pack of dogs, a bear."
LaFollette resident Donna Keathley is one of the few who claim to have seen the creature who's also willing to talk about it. "Tell him if he thinks our story is so bogus, there's a trailer right there for rent. Tell him to come on down and move in with us."
"They can call me what they want to call me," Keathley added. "I know what I saw. I know what I smelt."
Over the past 24 hours, there have been no new skunk ape sightings in Campbell County. But that's not deterring a local cryp-tozoologist.
Chris Dotson will begin an expedition to search for the reported creature this weekend. He'll look at two caves near the property where people say they've seen a creature several times.
Ramsey said UT hasn't received any stool samples to investigate from Campbell County sightings.
KNOXVILLE (WATE) --- A UT biologist will join this weekend's search for answers about what's killing pets in Campbell County. He believes it's probably a common animal, instead of a skunk ape.
John Placyk researches animal behaviors and how they forage for food. On Saturday, he'll join a group exploring two caves in Campbell County, to try to determine what's killing and eating cats.
"You know when your cats and dogs don't come back home or you find them in pieces, it's a scary thing and you want to know what's going on," Placyk said.
Based on his studies, Placyk said the odds of a big primate like a skunk ape wandering Campbell County aren't very good. "If there's a primate in the area, I think it's just a horrible coincidence that the cat deaths are corresponding with the primate sightings. I think they're probably two separate things."
Placyk said the only primate that tends to be a meat eater is a chimpanzee. But even they would only eat about one cat a week. And he said orangutans eat fruit almost exclusively.
The theory Placyk has developed is that a pack of hungry coyotes is taking down the pet cats and dogs. "When a feral dog pack or a coyote finds an aggregation of cats like that, it's a perfect resource for food and they're going to keep hitting it until the food is gone. And they're going to move on."
On his weekend cave trip, Placyk will collect feces and hair samples and do DNA testing to narrow down what animal is causing such a stir.
He said he can't rule out that some kind of unknown primate could be roaming Campbell County. But he said people shouldn't be frightened. It probably won't hurt anyone.
However, he warns people not to try cornering or catching a primate because they're stronger than humans and can do damage.
CAMPBELL COUNTY (WATE) -- The search for the so-called Campbell County skunk ape continues Monday.
Over the weekend, a team consisting of UT biologist John Placyk, crypto-zoologist Chris Dotson and four volunteers collected some hair and feces samples from an unidentified animal.
Based on his studies, Placyk said the odds of a big primate like a skunk ape wandering Campbell County aren't very good.
But Dotson showed pictures of reported skunk apes to Campbell County residents who said it's the animal they saw.
The samples will be tested at a UT lab to determine what animal they belong to.
Samples from Possible Skunk Ape Prove Inconclusive
October 28, 2003
By VINCE LENNON
6 News Reporter
CAMPBELL COUNTY (WATE) -- The search for the so-called Campbell County skunk ape continues Tuesday, after a lab reported inconclusive test results.
Over the weekend, a team consisting of UT biologist John Placyk, crypto-zoologist Chris Dotson and four volunteers collected some hair and feces samples from an unidentified animal.
UT veterinary medicine officials said Tuesday they didn't find any parasites. They did find plenty of plant material, insects and feathers.
Compounding the mystery, scientists said they can't identify a source animal from the fecal remains. Further testing could be done.
Based on his studies, Placyk has said the odds of a big primate like a skunk ape wandering Campbell County aren't very good.
But Dotson showed pictures of reported skunk apes to Campbell County residents who said it's the animal they saw.
I wonder if enough of the ones who have the unidentified creatures DNA and such could try putting them together (by that I mean compare them, not actually combine them together) for someone to look at and see at least if they matched and then they would at least know they have an unidentified animal lurking around. I believe that might help to prove something if enough of the ones have some DNA to compare the samples to even if it is unidentified it will be more than one sample and that might prove something to all the scientist and people out there that there is at least something out there. What do any of you think about that idea.
Volunteer Times has been aware of this investigation from the beginning, but has respected the wishes of those involved, not to report on this subject until an investigation produced some credible facts.
Despite other news agencies—both local and otherwise—that contributed to the ever-escalating media circus, we stayed true to our word.
Now that an investigation has been completed, and the safety of trick-or-treaters has become a concern, we give you the truth about all this monkey business:
“We did find some hair, we did find some feces,” Cryptozoologist Chris Dotson, said on Tuesday. “Those are currently being analyzed. We’ve not got the results of those back yet. I expect to get those back sometime later this week, and at that point we’ll have a better idea what it is we have collected.”
“There are several issues that we are dealing with,” Dotson went on to say. “There are sightings of an animal that people have seen, and then there are the disappearances of cats. Those two things may, or may not, be related.
We did find cat remains, a skeleton that was pretty far-gone...but we didn’t find any kind of teeth marks or scrapes on the bones. We also have found two what appears to be kittens. There were quite a few remains left, and we’re hoping to get those analyzed as well. They were a couple of weeks old, and so I don’t know what we will be able to gather from that, but that has been the best carcass we have found so far.”
Media outlets from LaFollette, Knoxville and the surrounding areas have reported so many conflicting statements, that people don’t know what to believe.
Sheriff Ron McClellan recently stated, “We have no facts. Some people report the news, and some people create it. I appreciate you all (Times) for reporting it.”
When asked about safety concerns for Halloween, McClellan said, “It shouldn’t scare parents or kids about Halloween. It’s just gotten out of hand!”
Debra Pemberton of College Hill said, “Well, where we live, I’ve not had any trick-or-treaters in about three years anyway...The people and the car lights will keep them (the animals) in the woods.”
Sheriff McClellan concluded his comment by saying, “I don’t appreciate some of the Knoxville radio stations making light of our good Appalachian people. These are my neighbors and constituents. I don’t like them making fun of our people. It’s demeaning when they make light of our people.”
The Volunteer Times has worked hard with those involved in the investigation of this caper to get the facts, as few and far between as they may be.
We appreciate the willingness of those involved to speak with us in our objective search for the truth.
This message has been edited by Arkansan from IP address 208.189.4.79 on Nov 2, 2003 10:25 AM
I went to the place where I found some tracks last winter a couple of weekends ago. There was not a lot of sign. I found one place where the grass and brush were squashed down in about an 8 foot circle.
Going to scout a different place this weekend. There were a couple of incidents in the general area a few years back. I don't know if anything is there but it may be worth a look.
I will be covered over with chores this weekend but should get a couple of hours to run over there. I will let ya know if I find anything.
I hope your time you manage to get will turn out to be successful. I know how it is just trying to find enough time and only to find it was in vain, so I wish you luck. I think the creature is out there if you just find the right area they are in.
