Smoking chimp rescued from Lebanese zoo

A 12-YEAR-OLD chimpanzee was heading to a sanctuary in Brazil yesterday after animal rights workers discovered him smoking cigarettes to entertain visitors at a Lebanese zoo.

Omega, who weighs about 132 pounds (60 kilograms), has never climbed a tree or seen other chimpanzees and has a troubling smoking habit he maintained from picking up cigarettes that visitors threw into his cage.

“The chimp still regularly smokes... if someone will throw him a cigarette he’d pick it up and go for it straight away,” said Jason Meier, executive director for animal rights group Animals Lebanon.