Chimps Make a Break for It at L.A. Zoo
All they needed was a getaway ark.
Four chimpanzees, aided by a hard rain that toppled a tree branch in their refuge, escaped from confinement at the Los Angeles Zoo on Saturday. But after the escape forced the zoo’s closure for almost an hour, the chimps were captured inside the grounds and returned to their home in the Africa section.
“I can’t think of the last time we had to do that,” zoo spokeswoman Lora LaMarca said of the closure, which began about noon.
The escape of the chimpanzees--Pandora, Toto, Judeo and an unnamed 2-year-old--brought some excitement to the zoo’s patrons on a day when heavy rains kept many animals inside.
Patti King, 32, of Riverside said she witnessed the flight of one escapee: “We saw one running down the road . . . with a lot of people after it.”
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