THE GINGER MONKEY at London zoo

LONDON (Reuters) - They say blondes have more fun, but redheads will have the edge this weekend when they get into London Zoo for free to view a rare new-born ginger-coloured monkey.


The endangered south east Asian Francois Langur monkey, called Laa Laa, has typical baby orange fur which in six months will turn a glossy black.


London Zoo said 9,500 red-heads had already downloaded free vouchers from its Web Site www.GingerSunday.co.uk.


"It has been very popular. We will accept all shades of red, auburn, titian, ginger, you name it," a Zoo spokesman said.


Ginger Sunday will also allow red-heads, often the butt of jokes in Britain, to win some friends since the vouchers allow them to bring a friend, be they brunette, blonde or even bald.


This country has one of the highest concentrations of redheads in the world, but a recent survey showed that 9 out of ten were teased at school about their hair colour.


A national utility company even decided to poke fun at redheads when it ran an ad campaign during 2000 which showed a family of gingers above the caption - "There are some things in life you can't choose".