Prozac puts ape back in shape

By STEPHEN FORBES

Even monkeys get the blues.

Marc Antony, a bonnet macaque monkey at Auckland Zoo, has not been feeling himself lately. He has been anxious, irritable and a little put out.

So his caregivers prescribed the anti-depressant Prozac.

Now the 10-year-old is feeling a lot more relaxed as he faces the attention of thousands of children heading through the zoo during the school holidays.

The zoo initiated the treatment - its first use of Prozac on a primate - when it found that Marc Antony had an anxiety disorder.

Veterinarian Richard Jakob-Hoff said that while he had not given Prozac to the zoo's primates before, it was commonly used to treat other animals.

The bonnet macaque species is normally found in Southern India and lives in groups with a strong social hierarchy.

But Marc Antony, named for the Roman general, found himself at the bottom of the hierarchy and was showing signs of anxiety, said Mr Jakob-Hoff.

Zoo authorities say animals can go through periods of mild depression and need help.

Jeremy Maguire, keeper at the Willowbank Wildlife Reserve in Christchurch, said care had to be taken in administering drugs to animals, "especially mood-changing drugs such as Prozac."

He personally tried to avoid administering human medications to animals.

Wellington Zoo's hospital manager, Barbara Blanchard, said the practice of prescribing human medicines to primates was not uncommon.

"Because primates are so similar to humans and they can get the same diseases, we often use the same medicines to treat them."

Mr Jakob-Hoff said the Prozac treatment was a success and Marc Antony had since been given a course of testosterone.

He was now the monkey he used to be.