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TOURISM

Chimpanzees in safe enclosure, Furuviksparken confirms

The three surviving chimpanzees at Furuviksparken have now been taken to a safe enclosure, the zoo said in a statement. A total of four of the park's seven chimpanzees are now confirmed dead.

Chimpanzees in safe enclosure, Furuviksparken confirms
Furuviksparken Zoo on Thursday. Photo: Fredrik Sandberg/TT

“We can announce that we have now succeeded in getting the chimpanzees into a completely safe enclosure. This means that there is no longer any risk of them being able to get out of the chimpanzee house,” the zoo writes in a press release.

In connection with the escape on Wednesday, three were shot dead, the monkeys Linda and Torsten outside the enclosure and Santino inside. A fourth, Manda, who was long feared to have died from his injuries, is dead, Furuviksparken now confirms.

READ ALSO: Four chimpanzees still on the loose at zoo in Sweden

“As we have secured the chimpanzees in their enclosure, we have also been able to get to Manda, and it is with great sadness that we can now confirm that she is deceased”.

Of the three in the primate house, one, the chimpanzee Selma, is also seriously injured.

“Full focus will be on taking care of the chimpanzees, evaluating their well-being and giving them all the care they need. We will especially focus on Selma’s injuries and well-being,” they added.

The chimpanzees Maria-Magdalena and Tjobbe are physically unharmed.

It is unclear how the primates got out, but tracks in the snow show, according to the park’s CEO Sandra Wilke, that one or more chimpanzees first got out of the enclosure and then further into the park through a door to the primate house.

“There are more animals living outside the chimpanzee house, for example cotton-headed tamarins and reptiles. We have now managed to secure their area so that our employees can get in and take care of them and we are now awaiting a status report from the veterinarians regarding the well-being of these animals,” the zoo wrote in a statement earlier on Saturday morning.

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ANIMALS

Did Swedish authorities just make it legal to own a unicorn?

No, but Jönköping county governor’s reply to an eight-year-old girl’s Christmas wish list is warming the hearts of a nation, after she issued her with a permit for the mythical creature.

Did Swedish authorities just make it legal to own a unicorn?

“Hej! My name is Elsie and I am 8 years old and live on a farm,” the girl’s letter reads, sent to the county administrative board in Jönköping, southern Sweden, a few weeks before the holidays.

“I want a unicorn but my mum and dad say that I need to ask you for permission. Please can I have permission to have a unicorn at home if we find some or if I get some for Christmas? Please answer quickly!”

Elsie’s letter to Jönköping county governor. Photo: supplied

A few days later, Elsie received a signed letter from Helena Jonsson, Jönköping county governor, informing her that her permit had been granted.

“We approve your permit for unicorn ownership on one condition, that you look after it/them well,” Jonsson wrote, before adding that she’d like Elsie to send her a picture if she finds a unicorn or gets one for Christmas.

Her letter quickly went viral in Sweden after Elsie’s mother Viktoria shared it in an open Facebook group.

“She thinks it’s great and now has high hopes for a magic Christmas present under the tree!” Viktoria told The Local.

When The Local spoke to county governor Helena Jonsson, she wasn’t able to confirm whether the permit was legally binding.

“There’s no legislation concerning unicorns,” she laughed, “so it’s unlikely.”

Unfortunately, this doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone in Jönköping is now allowed to keep pet unicorns, either.

“Well, she was allowed one on the condition that she looks after it properly, and then I also told her that if she finds one or has any proof that they exist, then I’d like her to send us a picture. So I guess it depends on the type of unicorn you mean.”

The letter from county governor Helena Jonsson to eight-year-old Elsie. Photo: supplied

Jonsson said that media interest in the story had been “astonishing”.

“It’s been a surprise and a bit of a shock how much interest there has been in this application,” she said.

“It’s a story about a girl who is determined, who just before Christmas wants to make sure there are no issues with her Christmas wish list and who wants to make sure she gets a quick response.”

“It goes straight to the heart, and it’s really, really cute,” Jonsson added, adding that she has a grandchild that also enjoys dressing up as a unicorn.

The letter was originally sent to Jönköping local government office. Workers were originally not sure of how they should respond, so they sent the unusual request on to the county governor.

“We don’t have any kind of process or legislation in place for unicorn permits,” Jonsson said.

When asked whether the county had ever received similar requests, Jonsson, who has been county governor since 2018, said this was the first one she’d come across.

“What kind of excuse can I come up with now?” Elsie’s mother wrote in her Facebook post. “And what kind of stable does it need?”

Elsie’s not the first child ever to be granted a permit to keep unicorns, though.

In 2022, a young girl in California named Madeline was given permission by the LA County Department of Animal Care and Control to keep a pet unicorn, as long as she promised to look after it, by giving it “regular access to sunlight, moonbeams and rainbows”, feeding it watermelon at least once a week, and promising to polish its horn at least once a month with a soft cloth.

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