BERLIN ZOO

Doctors are trying to save the finger of the Berlin zoo director Bernhard Blaszkiewitz, 55, after a male chimpanzee named Pedro bit it off a day earlier. Director was feeding walnuts to the chimpanzee and Pedro grabbed his arm and bit his right index finger almost completely off.

Doctors say Blaszkiewitz underwent an eight-hour operation to reattach the finger, but it became infected. Surgeon Andreas Eisenschenk said that the director was likely to lose the finger. Blaszkiewitz is a controversial figure. He had already problems with environmentalists due to lack of security in the zoo causing serious incidents with visitors.

Spokesman of NGO PETA, Frank Albrecht, declared: “A zoo director that ignores all the security rules related to wild animals is a bad example.”