New home for SpongeBob the monkey

SpongeBob had to be seen by a vet after his foot was bitten

A rare monkey who went missing from his enclosure at a theme park has moved to a new zoo in London after he was unable to settle back into his former home.

SpongeBob, a Bolivian squirrel monkey, disappeared from Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey in July.

His online blog told readers he was bullied by the other monkeys after being found. He has now been adopted by Battersea Park Children's Zoo.

A 22-year-old man appeared in court on Thursday and denied stealing SpongeBob.

Marlon Brown, of Bowater Close, in Brixton, south London, pleaded not guilty at Kingston Magistrates' Court to the theft of the £2,500 monkey on 16 July.

His next court hearing will be on 26 October.

Running and biting

Two-year-old SpongeBob was reported missing from Chessington's Monkey and Bird Garden walk-through area on 17 July.

He was found two days later on a housing estate in Clapham, south London.

But he was unable to reintegrate on his return to Chessington, where the nine other female monkeys in his group began turning against him.

SpongeBob's online blog said: "I think I must smell or something because they keep running after me and biting me."

His keepers eventually had to give him his own enclosure away from the female monkeys.

He was then transferred to Battersea Park Children's Zoo, in south London, where he is being integrated with five one-year-old females.

"The best thing is that it is not so far away from Chessington, so my keepers can come and visit me often and see how I get on with all my new lady friends," his blog said.