A London bus driver who stopped to move an abandoned laundry bag discovered that somebody had left behind considerably more than a few dirty shirts and mismatched socks.
Hidden inside the bag was a frightened marmoset monkey confined to a small metal birdcage.
The unusual passenger was discovered July 17 aboard a Route 302 bus traveling between Mill Hill Broadway Station and Kensal Rise in northwest London. A woman attempting to leave the bus with her child’s stroller found her path blocked by a large checkered laundry bag protruding from the luggage area.
The driver came over to help. When he moved the bag, something inside began chirping and jumping around.
That was when everyone learned the laundry had a tail.
Inside the bag, concealed beneath the plastic covering, was a female common marmoset. Whoever abandoned her had apparently supplied one piece of apple but little else. The animal was stressed, frightened and dehydrated.
The driver took the monkey to Metroline’s bus depot at Willesden, where employees placed her in a cool, dark area and contacted the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
RSPCA officers collected the monkey and took her to a veterinarian specializing in exotic animals. Fortunately, she was found to be in reasonably good health despite her ordeal.
Rescuers named her Oyster, after the electronic Oyster card used by passengers throughout London’s public-transportation system. Authorities did not say whether she had tapped her card when boarding.
Oyster has since been transferred to a sanctuary equipped to care for primates. In an unusually fortunate coincidence, the sanctuary was already searching for a female marmoset to introduce to a solitary male in its care.
Oyster is reportedly eating well and adjusting to her new surroundings. If the introduction goes successfully, she will gain both a permanent home and a new companion—an impressive improvement over being abandoned in a laundry bag on public transportation.
Investigators believe Oyster was deliberately left aboard the bus. The RSPCA is reviewing surveillance footage and passenger records in hopes of identifying the person who carried the bag aboard.
The abandonment occurred shortly after new regulations took effect in England requiring privately owned primates to be licensed and microchipped. Owners who fail to comply can face an unlimited fine or imprisonment.
Animal-welfare organizations fear some owners who cannot meet the new standards may abandon their monkeys rather than surrender them properly. The British government estimates that approximately 5,000 primates are being kept as pets in England.
Marmosets are intelligent and highly social wild animals requiring substantial space, stimulation, specialized care and the company of other marmosets. Experts say even well-meaning owners frequently underestimate how difficult it is to provide an appropriate home for them.
The RSPCA has asked anyone struggling to care for a primate to contact veterinarians, sanctuaries or animal charities rather than abandoning the animal.
Transport for London thanked the driver and Metroline employees for protecting Oyster until rescuers arrived.
Oyster is now safe, receiving professional care and preparing to meet her prospective boyfriend.
Her former owner, meanwhile, may soon discover that London buses contain considerably more surveillance equipment than the average laundry room.
Sources: ITV News and The Guardian
