EXCLUSIVE: Justin Bieber’s monkey is still traumatized from living with him
We spoke to the zoo in Germany where he now lives
Justin Bieber's monkey, OG Mally, is still recovering from living with his popstar owner, babe can reveal.
Mally, an endangered capuchin, fell under Bieber's captivity back in 2013, when he was illegally purchased for the singer. The monkey was rescued by German authorities later that year, and taken to a zoo, where he now lives.
He was just 14 weeks old at the time of his ordeal – a specialist recalled at the time how he was "frightened" and "disoriented."
Today Mally is trying to live his best life in Germany's Serengeti Wildlife Park, but he continues to struggle.
"He still has issues speaking the capuchin language," Asta Knoth, a rep for the zoo told babe. "He still tries to imitate human speech. He sometimes makes weird scratchy sounds which are not typical for capuchins. That’s why we think he still tries to talk to humans."
Mally with Justin
"It took a while for him to get there because he was taken away from his mother and natural family way too early. He did not learn to be a monkey," she added.
A zookeeper at the park told interviewers at the time of Mally's rescue: "Mally was frightened, he was alone, he was disoriented and we did not know how things would work out for him. He needed to be cared for constantly."
Authorities took Mally out of Justin's hands because he had failed to get the right paperwork for the monkey. Justin never provided documents that would allow him to reclaim Mally, and so he never returned to collect him.
Serengeti staff believe he was probably purchased illegally on the black market.
Asta described Mally's rehabiliation in positive terms. She said that "despite" everything he had to endure, "he did recover fine and he is healthy and seems to be quite happy in his new home."
Bieber has long faced accusations of animal cruelty, after his hamster died, his snake got auctioned off, his cat got abandoned, his bulldog got ditched and after he hired a tiger for a party.
We have reached out to Bieber's team for comment.