A chimpanzee in a northwest China zoo has quit smoking after 16 years with the help of her keepers, official media reported.
The staff, worried about her declining health, weaned 27-year-old "Ai Ai" off tobacco by distracting her with entertainment and a tastier diet, Xinhua news agency said...
"In the first few days, she squealed for cigarettes every now and then, but as her life became more colourful she gradually forgot about them altogether." [said one zoo keeper]...
Living in a safari park in Shaanxi province, she had taken up smoking in 1989 shortly after her mate died, it said. Then she had become a chain smoker after her second mate died in 1997 and her daughter was moved to another zoo.
