Bieber monkey now belongs to Germany

Berlin - A monkey which belonged to popstar Justin Bieber has become German national property after the singer failed to provide authorities with the documents needed to reclaim the pet seized by customs officials.

Bieber had until Friday to hand in the necessary paperwork which included health and species protection certificates after "Mally" his capuchin monkey was confiscated at Munich airport in March while the singer was on tour.

But Judith Brettmeister, spokesperson for the shelter which has cared for Mally since then, said the 19-year-old Canadian singer had not been in touch or handed over any documents and would no longer be able to reclaim the animal.

"The monkey belongs to Germany now," she said, adding that Germany's Federal Office for Nature Conservation would now take the monkey away and place it in a group of monkeys, though she did not know where that would be.

"We hope that it will be as soon as possible because the monkey needs to be integrated soon - it is becoming really strange because it only knows people so it has not learned any proper social behaviour," Brettmeister said, adding that the monkey was doing well otherwise.