Monkeying about

One of the great apes at a research center in Des Moines was doing more than monkeying around -- she ended up with the Fire Department on the way.

Firefighters said a bonobo ape pulled the fire alarm mounted on the wall at the Great Ape Trust of Iowa and sent a signal to the 911 dispatcher. The alarm sent fire trucks racing to the scene.

Fire Department spokesman Brian O'Keefe said a false alarm by an animal is a first for his department. Officials at the center said the offending female ape, an adult named Panbanisha, has been given a scolding and told not to do it again.

The alarm is mounted on a wall in the bonobo home in an area used by the apes and scientists.

Alarms at the center are also being covered to make monkeying around with them a little more difficult.