A month after his capture, the famous mystery monkey of Tampa Bay is about to start a new phase of his life.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which continues to house the monkey, the rhesus macaque is healthy and not showing any signs of aggression. That means he could soon head to a permanent home.
According to Bay News 9's partner newspaper the Tampa Bay Times, the monkey, now named Cornelius, could be handed over to wildlife trapper Vernon Yates.
Yates could take full custody of the monkey because he helped with rescue efforts and has kept Cornelius in his Seminole wildlife facility.
Once the wildlife commission hands over custody, Yates said he plans to give Cornelius to Dade City's Wild Things, a zoo already home to about a dozen other macaques.
The monkey was captured Oct. 24 in a St. Petersburg neighborhood near Lake Maggiore, about three weeks after he bit a woman outside her home.