Escaped Chimp Goes Walkabout in Pretoria Before Capture

One of two new chimpanzees acquired by the Pretoria Zoo managed to escape on Saturday and was wandering around the streets of Pretoria before being caught and returned to his new home.

The National Zoological Gardens of South Africa said in a statement that the chimp went on “a bit of a walkabout outside the zoo’s animal hospital after he got out of his enclosure. The zoo immediately enacted its emergency protocol. The chimp was successfully immobilised and returned to his quarantine facility. The vets have reported that he is doing fine after his little morning stroll. At no time was any member of the public in any danger from the chimp.”

The chimp, named Moti, is one of a pair brought to South Africa from Israel in October 2015, where they were at the Zoological Center Tel Aviv-Ramat Gan and the Jerusalem Biblical Zoo. Moti and the other chimp Absalom were apparently both still in quarantine at the zoo when he got out.

A statement by the Israeli embassy on 12 October said the chimps only had to stay in quarantine for 30 days, a period which should have ended in November. It is the third transfer of animals between South Africa and Israel, which has already sent gorillas and has received rhinos, the embassy said at the time. An embassy spokesman said Pretoria Zoo had asked for the chimp transfer.

When the chimps arrived in October, a spokeswoman for the zoo said (see video below) that the chimps were extremely strong and that was why special modifications had been made to the cages. She said, “We don’t want any accidents to happen…” She also took reporters into the main area where the chimps would be kept, and there was a red line people were not meant to cross because chimps could grab through the cages.

The video shows the chimps arrival in October, and journalists are shown the cage modifications at Pretoria Zoo:

“So far we have determined that Moti did not break the lock on his cage or the cage itself, so he would not be able to get out again,” Craig Allenby, a representative of the NZG was quoted as saying on Saturday. An investigation is apparently underway.