South African zoo workers are working to find a way for their star chimpanzee to quit smoking. Charlie, a grown male chimp at the Bloemfontein Zoo, has been picking up cigarettes thrown to him by visitors and smoking them. Zoo officials blame the habit on its visitors, stating the chimp probably picked up the habit after mimicking the humans he saw daily. "Baby chimps pick up habits by mimicking adults and we think he started mimicking smokers at his enclosure which probably led to smokers throwing him cigarettes," says zoo spokesman Daryl Barnes. Charlie is already showing the signs of a true nicotine addict. "He even acts like a naughty schoolboy by hiding the cigarette when staff approach the area," Barnes said, adding that the zoo was determined to help him quit.

A cigarette butt representing life before New Zealand's smoke-free laws became effective last year, is being auctioned off online. New Zealand extended its smoke-free laws on Dec. 10, 2004, banning smoking in most indoor venues, sparking complaints from smokers and bar and cafe owners. The cigarette butt was witnessed being smoked at 11:59pm on Dec. 9, 2004 by the owners of an Auckland bar. Bids on the cigarette are currently exceeding $5,400, on the New Zealand-based action site, TradeMe (www. trademe. co. nz). The auction closes Thursday and will reword the top bidder with the butt, a certificate of authenticity, and a mounting case. The partially smoked cigarette was described on the Web site as a "priceless Kiwiana collector's item. "