Armed police were called to
the central London attraction and visitors were evacuated when the alarm was
raised following the ape’s bid for freedom on 13 October.
The silverback gorilla
whose escape sent ZSL London Zoo into lockdown made an “opportunistic” exit
through two unlocked doors into a corridor where a keeper was working, the zoo
said.
Professor David Field, the
ZSL’s zoological director, said Kumbuka was kept calm by the member of staff,
with whom he had a “close bond”.
The incursion into the
zookeeper area culminated in Kumbuka glugging five litres of undiluted
blackcurrant squash, before being tranquillised and moved back to safety, an
in-house investigation into the incident said.
Despite the animal’s security
breach, Professor Field said the whole affair was “less dramatic than some
would have you believe”.
He added: “I can certainly
tell you that there were no broken locks, Kumbuka did not smash any windows, he
was never ‘on the loose’, and his normal gorilla posturing reported by visitors
earlier in the day was unrelated to the incident.”
Kumbuka’s daring escape
began after he was called into his enclosure for dinner shortly after 5pm.
The 184kg (29st) “alpha
male” of the zoo’s troop then found the door to his area was unlocked and a
second door had yet to be secured, leading him to come face-to-face with the
zookeeper.
Professor Field wrote:
“Thanks to the incredibly close bond and relationship shared by the zookeeper
and Kumbuka, the zookeeper was able to continually reassure Kumbuka, talking to
him calmly and in the same light-hearted tone he would always use, as he
removed himself from the area.
“Staff raised the alarm
that triggered our standard escape response, while Kumbuka briefly explored the
zookeeper area next door to his den, where he opened and drank five litres of
undiluted blackcurrant squash.
“Kumbuka was immediately
contained in the non-public area by quick-thinking zookeepers responding to the
alarm, where he was tranquilised and moved back into his den.”
He added that the human
error which facilitated the escape was rare and the risk of mechanical failure
meant having an automated security system posed a “greater” threat.
These gorillas are getting to bold these days I remember the one with the child
ReplyDeleteAnother Gorilla drama
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