Churchill's Wartime Secret - APE SEX!

[matcom]

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WAR might have been raging though Europe, but according to newly-released files, in 1944 British leader Winston Churchill had the time to ponder a seemingly less crucial issue - the sex lives of apes.

A memo from Churchill demanding action is among a batch of formerly secret files deposited in Britain's National Archives concerning the same subject, population numbers among Gibraltar's Barbary Ape population.

While much of the correspondence is light-hearted - in 1967, two top officials exchanged humourous poems questioning whether the apes may become gay or lesbian - there was a serious purpose.

According to legend, if the apes disappear, Britain will lose control of Gibraltar, a tiny territory on the coast of southern Spain which it has controlled for almost 200 years.

Churchill was evidently worried at the declining ape population during World War II, firing off a memo to the colonies minister saying there should always be at least 24 of the animals.

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,10221476%255E13762,00.html