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By Chris Parsons


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Helping hand: Pete the capuchin scrubs away at the first of many pots in Bolivia


At a time of year which most spend eating and drinking, any extra cleaning help will always come in useful.

But this is one domestically-trained assistant you're unlikely to find in the kitchen - a monkey who has been trained to do the washing-up.

The capuchin was being reintroduced to the wild at a sanctuary in El Chapar, Bolivia by Louis Dumas two years ago.

Elbow grease: The small monkey works hard despite carrying a baby female called Pea on his back


But ever since being shown back into his natural habitat, the male monkey named Pete has started mimicking human behaviour.

Pete's bizarre antics included imitating humans washing dishes, meaning the capuchin was soon scrubbing away at pots and pans at the sanctuary.

The monkey's cleaning exploits are all the more impressive given he does so with another monkey, a baby female called Pea, on his back the whole time.


You missed a spot: The cleaning capuchin gets right into the corner of one bowl during his washing-up

Working hard: Pete the capuchin has reportedly become so well-trained he rinses his own scrubbing brush


Monkey expert Louis Dumas said: 'Pete had been observing me washing the pots for a few days before he took over and began completely and perfectly imitating me.

'The monkey on his back is a baby female called Pea. She is not his daughter.

'Pete had an unfortunate overbite which made him a particularly ugly monkey; he had very little success with the ladies and therefore looked after babies a lot.'




source:dailymail