As 2024 comes to an end, STV looks back at the moments that captured the attention of audiences across Scotland and beyond.
Monkey roams the Highlands after escaping zoo
SuppliedHonshu, a seven-year-old male Japanese macaque, escaped from the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig.
He is captured after five days on the run.
Disastrous Willy Wonka Chocolate Experience
Jack ProctorPolice were called to a “Willy Wonka” chocolate experience after families were left “furious” in Glasgow in February.
Images and video of the event went internationally viral – and introduced characters like the sad Oompa Loompa and The Unknown.
Scottish tourist mauled by bear through car window in Romania
TVRA Scottish holidaymaker had a lucky escape after being bitten by a brown bear in Romania’s Carpathian Mountains in April.
The “mummy bear” clamped its jaws round Moira Gallacher’s hand while she tried to take a photo with the window of the car she was travelling in down.
The 72-year-old from West Lothian has put her arm’s survival down to the fact she was wearing a “thick, padded Marks and Spencer’s jacket”.
Stevie Nicks rushed to hospital by castle butler in middle of night
Getty ImagesStevie Nicks revealed the health issue that forced her to postpone her Glasgow gig last minute.
The Fleetwood Mac frontwoman was set to play at the OVO Hydro on Saturday, July 6, but cancelled just hours before she was due on stage.
The singer said that she had been staying at a Scottish castle for a few days before the show when she became unwell.
The singer explained she told her assistant she needed to go to the hospital around 2am and was able to get there with the help of castle’s butler.
Japanese designer selling range of shirts with random Scottish place names
Shoo La Rue/World Online Store/LumineA Japanese clothing brand is selling t-shirts with the names of seemingly random places in Scotland emblazoned on them.
Retailer Shoo-La-Rue’s Cutie Blonde range has sparked debate on social media after images were shared of models wearing items featuring Falkirk, North Lanarkshire and West Lothian.
Costing around £7.20 (1,489 Yen), the North Lanarkshire t-shirt is embroidered with flowers.
Man climbs lamp post to save trapped seagull
iStockA man has been filmed scaling a lamp post in Glasgow city centre to rescue a trapped seagull.
Jack Kelly was on a night out on Sauchiehall Street with colleagues when he was alerted to the bird in distress.
“My colleague jokingly said to go and save it, and I was like ‘yup no bother’,” the 21-year-old told STV News.
Man finds ‘eight-foot snakeskin’ on Loch Lomond
A man fishing on a Loch Lomond island said he was “astonished” to find an eight foot shedded snakeskin.
Thomas Hanlan was kayaking when he took a lunch break on Inchtavannach on Monday afternoon.
On the island he came across what he thought at first was a fishing net – but turned out to be a serpent’s shedded skin.
Primary school welcomes year of only boys for first time
A Scottish primary school has welcomed a year of only boys for the first time.
Stromness Primary School P1 class will be made up of 18 boys with teachers Joanna Tulloch and Susan Begley describing the unusual set up as creating a “buzz” at the start of the school year.
Story behind viral Scottish island ‘hammer attack’ on Google maps revealed
An academic has explained how he staged a Google Street View “masterpiece” appearing to show him attacking his colleague with a hammer.
Gideon Futerman was visiting the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in the summer when he spotted Google’s car-mounted 360-degree camera approaching.
He and his friend quickly came up with the idea to stage an altercation with a geological hammer that would be captured onto Google Street View.
Google MapsSchoolgirls ‘steal and ride ponies for five miles’ before hiding them in shed
Two girls allegedly stole ponies before riding around on them for miles and leaving them in a shed in Falkirk.
Owners at Hayfield Riding School in Bonnybridge issued a public appeal on social media after two ponies were taken from the field at around 8.30pm on Friday.
The girls – believed to be in school – were pictured on the horses by residents on social media before dash cam footage showed the pair on the road with the ponies not using saddles.
SuppliedNursery children help ‘arrest’ the Grinch after break-in scare
CCTV footage has been released of the moment children helped police arrest the ‘Grinch’ after a break-in at their nursery.
Ivy in the Park Nursery in Glasgow’s Carntyne was broken into on December 8 with the culprit smashing through a door to gain entry.
After the children noticed the boarded-up door, the staff decided to tell them that the Grinch had visited and smashed the glass.
While an investigation to track down the person responsible is ongoing, the nursery’s janitor devised a plan to give the children closure on the ordeal.
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