According to zoo keepers at Bloemfontein Zoo, cigarette-sucking Charlie, who died of natural causes, lived 10 years longer than the average zoo-bound chimp.
Mr Barnes, senior nature conservator at the South African zoo told the Daily Mail: 'When he sees people smoking outside his enclosure, he begs for a cigarette.
After a visitor tosses one his way, he has a few puffs while sitting on the grass or a stump.
It is not known how many cigarettes Charlie puffed on as the crafty chimp tried to hide his habit from his keepers.
The zoo’s spokesperson, Qondile Khedama, believes Charlie was only an ‘occasional smoker’, a sentiment shared by Mr Barnes, who said: ‘no signs of addiction, or withdrawal, have ever been noticed.'
Charlie may have passed on but his legacy will live on.
'The post mortem will be conducted in the next few days and then Charlie will go through the delicate process of being stuffed and preserved,’ Mr Khedama stated.
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