Charlie the smoking chimp dies aged 52... of natural causes (he was trying to kick the habit)



A chimpanzee famous for smoking cigarettes has died at the age of 52 - of natural causes.

Charlie lived ten years longer than the average captive chimp despite his bad habit, keepers at Bloemfontein Zoo in South Africa said.

He first started smoking after visitors began throwing lit cigarettes into his enclosure.



Zoo spokesman Qondile Khedama insisted Charlie was only an ‘occasional smoker’, but had none the less become famous around the world.

Quick drag: Charlie takes a puff from a cigarette at his South African zoo

No-one knows exactly how many cigarettes Charlie puffed - but this may be because the crafty ape went to great lengths to hide the unhealthy habit from his keepers.



Daryl Barnes, the zoo’s senior nature conservator said that in the 15 years he has worked there, he saw Charlie smoke about five times.



However, because the chimpanzee had learned that he was not supposed to smoke, he would try and hide the habit from his zookeepers.



Mr Barnes explained: 'When he sees people smoking outside his enclosure, he begs for a cigarette. After a visitor tosses one his way, he has a few puffs while sitting on the grass or a stump.'



Whenever he was caught smoking, Charlie would throw the cigarette down, 'grin at us, bob his head and try to lure us away from the cigarette on the ground'.



Mr Barnes said he was confident that Charlie had not been addicted to nicotine, saying 'no signs of addiction, or withdrawal, have ever been noticed'.



Charlie is thought to have picked up the smoking habit when he worked in an American circus. It has been speculated that he was taught the trick to entertain circus-goers.

Mr Khedama explained that Charlie had recently been receiving special care, including a special diet of protein shakes and vitamin and mineral supplements.

Nonetheless, she said he succumbed to what she described as 'old age' on Tuesday.

Amazing video footage of Charlie puffing on cigarettes has been broadcast on news channels around the world and the ape’s fame attracted thousands to the zoo, near Bloemfontein.

Mr Khedama said: 'Charlie was known for his bad habit of smoking, which also earned him world-wide fame.'



That fame could lead to Charlie being stuffed, he added. 'The post mortem will be conducted in the next few days and then Charlie will go through the delicate process of being stuffed and preserved.

'We discussed the possible options for laying him to rest but decided he was such a popular part of the zoo that he should be kept on display forever.

'We hope that by preserving his body we might keep alive his famous spirit too.

'Perhaps it will also give a reminder to those who enjoy smoking that it need not always be as dangerous as we are told.

'We are delighted that Charlie lived such a full life and hope visitors to the zoo can continue to remember him in future.'

No one knows exactly how many cigarettes Charlie the smoking chimp puffed at while he was living at the South African zoo - but this may be because the crafty ape went to great lengths to hide the unhealthy habit from his keepers.



Daryl Barnes, the zoo's senior nature conservator said that in the 15 years he has worked there, he saw Charlie smoke about five times.



However, because the chimpanzee had learnt that he was not supposed to smoke, he would try and hide the habit from his zookeepers.



Charlie was a common chimp, originally from the forests of west central Africa.



Chimpanzees are the closest evolutionary relatives of humans – our evolutionary paths split around six million years ago.