Monkey creates commotion at Tokyo subway station

If you'll be traveling on Tokyo's subway this week, prepare for a simian encounter. This morning, a wild monkey scampered around ticket machines and perched itself on top of the electronic departures-and-arrivals board at Shibuya station, one of the city's busiest.

About 30 police officers tried to coax the creature down (no word on whether bananas were used as a lure), while commuters recorded videos on their cellphones. In the end, the monkey got away, bolting out of the station with TV crews hot on its tail.

It was one of several recent sightings of wild monkeys in Tokyo. The simians normally live in mountains far outside the city. In rural areas, they are considered a crop-ravaging menace, a problem also encountered in India, where earlier this year one state announced a plan to train youths to sterilize monkeys with lasers.

In other animal news:

• A disabled turtle gets wheels.
• A baby whale is mistaking yachts for its mom.
• A police dog knows how to box.
• A mourning gorilla mom refuses to let go of her dead baby's body.