Chimps who mauled American student reintroduced at South African refuge center

Chimps who mauled US student being reintroduced to refuge

Scientists monitoring behavior at South African center

JOHANNESBURG – Officials say the two chimpanzees that mauled a U.S. college student at an animal refuge in South Africa are being reintroduced at the center.

Eugene Cussons of the Jane Goodall Institute's Chimpanzee Eden SA in eastern South Africa said Monday that chimpanzees Amadeus and Nikki were in separate cages. Cussons said scientists would watch their behavior before letting them back together and with other chimps.

Amadeus, the alpha male, had been held in solitary confinement at the center since the June 28 attack on University of Texas at San Antonio student Andrew Oberle. Nikki, shot in the abdomen and leg after the attack on Oberle, was transferred from the Johannesburg Zoo to the refuge this weekend.

A state investigator says Oberle lost fingers and sustained head and other injuries in the attack.