Alfie is a Big Red, the Japanese Snow Monkey Escapee Who Traveled to Bellaire, Ohio

       My mother, Martha Giffen, was a schoolteacher in Bellaire, Ohio in 1987. She taught Chapter Reading in West Bellaire Elementary School, in the community that Alfie chose for his winter home. Her students came to school telling stories about the snow monkey. He chose the high school guidance counselor’s yard as one of his favorite places to sun himself. My parents hosted a Japanese student, Kyoto Katsura from Wheeling Jesuit College around that time, and she created artwork to decorate t-shirts, mugs and hats that the children sold, when Alfie was finally captured, so that they could go visit him at the zoo on a field trip. The teachers all collected newspaper clippings. My mother’s Chapter Reading students wrote, illustrated, and published a small book. She even tried very unsuccessfully to get the school district to change their mascot from an Indian to a Snow Monkey. A few years ago, after retiring, my mother handed me the flattish shipping box full of news stories and student art, and said, “I don’t know what to do with this.” I accepted it. I stored it away for a few years. 

     Last month, I pulled it out, and began attempting to put together stories and a timeline for a blog post. I had not realized how extensive Alfie’s story had been. An entire book could be written about his adventure. The zoo must have mapped his travels not unlike I began putting news articles together. If only I could interview the zoo officials, the journalist, and the capture company! The creative headlines alone might make up several pages. This is what I have put together from those clippings and postings online.

     At the Highland Park Zoo in Pittsburgh, On July 23^rd, 1987, a veterinarian was doctoring a macaque, a Japanese snow monkey, in an exhibit area, and several of the other snow monkeys became agitated. Three of them became so excited, that they climbed the wall and escaped. Two returned shortly afterwards, but the alpha male from the habitat, nicknamed, “Alphie,” for his social position, did not return. He went on a very long, 6-month adventure, before being captured 70 miles away in Bridgeport, Ohio on January 27^th, 1988. Most newspapers spelled his name, "Alfie" during his time away, until the zoo made the announcement upon his return, that he had returned to his machismo social order, so his name was returning to the proper Greek spelling. I have attempted to write this blog story respecting what his name was, when.

     Snow monkeys come from an area of Japan with similar weather to the temperate climates around Pittsburgh, PA and eastern OH. They are adapted to cold weather, and are accustomed to snow. They enjoy bathing in natural hot springs at home in Japan. It is not uncommon for monkeys of all breeds to outsmart their captors and escape for long periods of time. Alfie was very social, though. He endeared (and outsmarted) nearly everyone he met. 

     Pittsburgh Zoo is near the three rivers area of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini-Manhattan, a long peninsula between two large river tributaries that join to form the third. There are bridges everywhere. The Allegheny River and the Monongahala River meet in downtown Pittsburgh, to form the big Ohio River. The Ohio curves northward from Pittsburgh toward Lake Erie, but then curves over toward the state of Ohio, and travels back south again. The south side of the river, caught in the loop is the northern panhandle of West Virginia, which is only 15 miles across to Pennsylvania by the time the river is as far south as Wheeling. This is the tri-state area where I have lived most of my life; and where Alfie made big news. It was the same year my first child was born. I was away in Columbus, but I heard the stories.

     Alfie never entered West Virginia that we know of. Newspapers reported his escapades more widely the longer he was at large, until he eventually made the national news. The reports followed him along the Allegheny northward, then back south on the western side of the Ohio. He may have never crossed that big river, but instead, followed the loop around, and back south. 

     I have figured out a rudimentary map route of Alfie’s travels based on newspaper articles. From Pittsburgh, to Beaver County, PA, Columbiana County, OH, then Ohio’s Jefferson, Harrison, Guernsey, Belmont and Monroe Counties, journalists worked with local police and county sheriff departments imploring the public to close him into an outbuilding or garage, and to call and report his whereabouts. They published where he was to alert the public, so they might keep track. The sightings and stories poured in. They were entertaining, until the social macaque was entertaining the nation. In each article, residents were asked not to feed Alfie by hand, (they ignored this), not to grab him because he might fight back (he never did), and not to chase him (lots of people chased him). They wanted him to stay in one area. When he was returned, he was given a clean bill of health, but months later, he tested positive for Simian B virus, which can be transferred to humans through bites and scratches, and can be deadly to humans. He was transferred to a wildlife park in Florida soon after.

Alfie’s timeline:

Jul 25-26         Shadyside, Pittsburgh, PA

Jul                    Morningside, Pittsburgh crossed the 62^nd Street Bridge

Jul 30^th             Etna, PA (Stop n Go); Shaler, PA

Jul 31^st             crossed Route 8, spotted at Giant Eagle

Aug 1^st             North Park, PA (in a deer pen)

Aug 3^rd            McCandless, PA

Aug 10^th          Wexford, Bradford Woods, PA

Aug 17^th          Franklin Park, PA

Aug 19^th          Marshall, PA

Aug 24^th          Bell Acres, PA (jumping back and forth from bridge to an apple tree; was seen on another garage roof; swinging from an antennae of yet another home)

(crosses out of Allegheny County)

 Aug 25^th          Economy, Beaver County, PA (seen sitting on a barn roof)

Aug 26^th          Bell Acres, PA

Sep 23rd          Brighton Township, PA (crossed the football field, ate from a bird feeder)

Sep 30th          Industry, Beaver, PA (chased by police, residents and two dogs)

Oct 9^th             Ohio Rt 213 and Austin Lake, OH

Oct 11^th           State Park Rd, Richmond, OH (eating apples from a tree)

Oct 12^th           Jefferson County, OH Sheriff’s Department reports calls for past 2 weeks

Oct 14^th           Hopedale, OH

Oct 16^th           Cadiz (East Market near Harrison Community Hospital in am; Park Ave near Harrison County Fairgrounds in pm)

Oct 17th          Deer Ridge near Cadiz, Harrison County, OH

Oct 20^th           Warren St., Cadiz, OH

Oct 21^st           Smyrna, OH (crossed Ohio 800 between Smyrna and Freeport)

Oct 22^nd           Chapel Hill Rd west of Rt 250 between Cadiz and Tappan Lake

Oct 24^th           between Belmont & Morristown, OH

Oct 25^th           Bethesda, OH (Glenwood Apartments, was seen crossing a field)

Oct 27^th           Gorey Mill Rd of Rt 26, south of Bethesda, OH

Nov 3^rd            Woodsfield, OH (Moose Ridge Rd, sitting on a fence pole)

Nov 5^th                        OH Rt 26, Monroe County (sunning on a roof of a building; was chased by vet and Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and dogs, treed; his foot was grabbed, but he got loose)

Nov 14^th          Barnesville, OH (Doudna’s Orchard eating apples in trees, woman called Belmont County Sheriff’s Department wanting it off the property)

Nov 15^th          Speidel, OH (between Barnesville and Bethesda, on farm of Barnesville Recreation Director)

Nov 17^th          Jacobsburg, OH

Nov 20^th          Neffs and Bellaire, OH (chased off a trash pile in Neffs; Rock Hollow Rd, broke a bird feeder and ate birdseed, 2 sightings on Rt 214)

Nov 23^rd          Bellaire, OH (dog chased up a tree on High St., swung from tree to tree, later sighted in BelHaven)

Nov 26^th          Bellaire chase: Police report he was at Cervelli Motors, was chased by several Police Dept officers into Phillips Stamping building, escaped by climbing on beams and getting out through garage; residents and children chased him back toward Cervelli Motors and RR tracks, and one resident chased him up a hill, where Alfie played stop and catch up, and go, until the resident gave up. Screamed in the woods outside of town all night.

Nov 29^th          Avondale, Shadyside, OH

Dec 3^rd             Pinch Run, between Bellaire and Shadyside, OH, lays low in woods outside of town

but visited one residence regularly here since Nov 20^th for birdseed and bananas

Dec 5^th             Belmont County 214, Mt Calvary Cemetery

Dec 11^th           Bellaire, OH, Pinch Run, newspaper reporter chases him into the woods trying to get a picture; he has been following Bellaire’s Alfie stories closely

Dec 14^th           Bellaire, OH resident photographs Alfie eating a banana

Dec 22^nd          Shadyside resident trees with his dogs, and drugs Alfie with both dart gun and fruit, drugs provided by a veterinarian; was in tree for 12 hours; drugs don’t work and too many people hear commotion and show up to watch; attempt abandoned. He climbs down and gets away again

Jan 8^th              West Bellaire, romping on rocks above big curve in road; videotaped by a resident pulling down a bird feeder and eating the birdseed

Jan 9^th              Zoo hires Capture Company; they set up a trap at guidance counselor’s home that Alfie frequents; has resident tree Alfie so he can shoot him with a dart gun but can't get a good shot; Alfie climbs back down tree and leaves

Jan 12^th            West Bellaire, sighted regularly

Jan 16^th            Capture company brings a new trap with an electronic door; Shadyside dog trainer agrees to move trap around to sighting areas with his son’s assistance

Jan 18^th            Bellaire, seen on 26^th St, then near Bellaire Clinic on Washington St, then Monroe St, then 41^st St; then on the north end of town. Police found him on 48^th St running around.

Jan 21^st            West Bellaire, establishes trust from guidance counselor, suns in his yard, takes fruit and chocolate from his hand on regular basis; resident cannot keep up with chocolate habit; gives him caramel for amusement and Alfie can't get it out of his teeth; Alfie puts nose on neighbor’s door waiting for her to get food for him

Jan 21^st            Bridgeport, OH, Jacquette St, sat on resident’s porch bannister, and peeped in window while she got him food; ate birdseed off the ground

Jan 25^th            West Wheeling, OH, spotted by pastor of Riverview Bible Church; spotted in Boydsville

Jan 26^th            Bridgeport, OH, Kennon St., checks over trap with birdseed and fruit inside

Jan 27^th            Bridgeport, OH 12:15 Bill Youst pushed the button to close the electronic cage on Kennon Ave with Alfie inside.

     After Alfie’s capture, Bellaire Police Chief, Roger Woods, had arranged to have him brought to the municipal building in Bellaire, OH while waiting for zoo officials to come retrieve him, so that residents could say goodbye. Over 100 people came to see Alfie off, including bank presidents, city officials and business people. He was about 35 lbs, 19 lbs heavier than when he had escaped. He had no cuts, but he did have some fleas. News crews arrived, and there was an impromptu arrangement for him to return to the zoo via a news helicopter instead of the van that was on its way, but his cage would not fit. The crowd was moved to the football stadium in view of Route 7. Traffic along the 4-lane highway backed up as people stopped to watch the commotion. Some people yelled to set him free. Some people cried. Some people became angry because they could not get pictures. Alfie left Bellaire, Ohio at about twenty-to-six that Wednesday Evening.

      Back at the zoo, he was put into isolation for 30 days, and was given medical tests for diseases and parasites. The zoo decided to build a new habitat just for Alfie in the children’s section. They sold shares of “Monkey Business” to fund the habitat, which opened that spring. West Bellaire School, The Times Leader newspaper, and the Pittsburgh Zoo all sold Alfie memorabilia. West Bellaire’s money went to charter buses for a field trip to the zoo to visit Alfie that spring. The newspaper’s money went to the local Belmont County Animal Rescue League. The zoo’s money went to a new, and a more secure habitat for the Japanese snow monkey who made history. Several female companions joined him there. Wheeling and Oglebay’s Good Zoo near Wheeling, WV made offers to give Alfie a home. They even offered to buy another Japanese snow monkey to replace him, but the zoo stated that they had signed a contract with Alfie.

     Kyoto Katsura, a design artist from Japan, created the artwork for West Bellaire’s memorabilia, stating, “Alfie is a Big Red” in both Japanese and English. The school had difficulty keeping up with the orders. Vivid Graphics in St. Clairsville filled them as they came in.

     My mother privately did not want Alfie to be a “Big Red.” She wanted the school district to change their mascot from a Native American, an icon depicting Native Americans as savages and a reminder of the bloody wars fought in this valley, to the Snow Monkey who found refuge and company here. She is a diplomat though, and a leader. Our village is enmeshed with an identity they cannot part with; and so she embraced that as a compromise. So many people connected with this macaque in his travels of freedom, and cheered him on. We are Alphie.