Wednesday, October 12, 2005
Ernie Mauled By Monsters
New York (FN) - Ernie Dershowitz, beloved children's entertainer and animal trainer, was hospitalized today after suffering a gruesome attack by a pack of bonobo apes.
Witnesses at the scene report that a pack of three or four male bonobos (also known as pygmy chimps) went bezerk during training. Doctors have verified that most of the right side of Dershowitz's face was bitten off, as were all three of the fingers on his left hand and portions of his buttocks.
Best known for their performances in PBS's Sesame Street, Dershowitz and his partner Albert Giamatti have over 30 years experience working with their troupe of "L'il Monsters" bonobos. Giamatti is reported to be in shock after the attack and was not available for comment.
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| "Cookie", a performing bonobo involved in the mauling, was shot and killed after the attack |
“Male apes are intensely territorial. They defend their territory against any perceived threat,” said Craig Stanford, a professor at the
Sources at the Children's Television Network, producers of Sesame Street, say that Dershowitz and Giamatti had recently had difficulties with the bonobos. They had been attempting to change their diets from cookies to healthier fare in response to complaints by parents' groups, but the apes appeared to resent the sudden change.
In recent years, Dershowitz and Giamatti have been the targets of a media campaign by animal-rights group PETA.
"Those guys treat their animals worse than Russian dancing bears. They dye their furs a variety of unnatural colours. They both starve and fatten the apes to create a variety of physical shapes. They make them live in filthy conditions - one of them literally lives in a garbage can. If you ask me, Ernie and Bert are the ones who are the real monsters," said PETA spokesman Gerry Wright.
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posted by Mentok @ 9:00 a.m.,
2 Comments:
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At 11:58 p.m.,
A. B. Chairiet said...
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Hey, I like Bert and Ernie! :(
Poor Ernie...
...I hope he makes it through the night. ;)
~ Ash -
At 9:54 a.m.,
NL-ExPatriate said...
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LOL serves um right!
Keeping COOKIES from the Cookie Monster.
