American Notes FLORIDA

The monkey business started back in 1973 when Charles River Laboratories set up a breeding colony of rhesus monkeys on an island in the Florida Keys. Since then the primates have gone ape, swelling in numbers to more than 4,000, fouling the water and destroying endangered mangrove trees on state-owned land. Despite protests from environmentalists and nearby property owners, Bausch & Lomb Inc., which bought the colony in a package deal in 1984, refused to relocate it. Then in May the state department of natural resources quietly agreed to a settlement in which Bausch & Lomb would be allowed to phase out the colony over the next 20 to 30 years.

Governor Bob Martinez, who is seeking a second term, has decided to stop monkeying with the issue. He rejected the proposed settlement and insisted that Bausch & Lomb pay for replacing the lost mangroves. Says Martinez: "In this case, the environment should be top banana."