Kicker: Monkey business

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MYRNA BROWN, HOST: You know the phrase, “Monkey see, monkey do”?

Well the last few days in one St. Louis neighborhood have been more like, “See monkey, what to do?!”

AUDIO: Who opened the Jumanji book? What's going on right now?

The city started getting reports last week about small monkeys on the streets; Exotic Vervet monkeys, originally from Africa!

The city swung into action, putting out public calls for help, all to no avail.

Compounding the problem? A skeptical public.

Audio from Fox 2 in St. Louis.

AUDIO: I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a viral joke that was going on.

And some fake, AI-generated images of the animals didn’t help either.

Officials say the monkeys are intelligent and unpredictable. In other words: they’ve outsmarted their pursuers at this point.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Go monkeys!

BROWN: It’s The World and Everything in It.

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