Chimp escape artists climb up branch to escape zoo enclosure
Please support the #FreeTheChimp movement, everyone.
A group of radical liberationist chimpanzees attempted to break free from their enclosure at the Belfast Zoo in Belfast, Northern Ireland this Saturday. The chimps used a branch as a form of "primate ladder" to climb out of their enclosure and into freedom.
At least one chimp successfully escaped to another wall, only to return to their enclosure shortly after.
At least some of the escape was caught on video by zoo visitors.
Zookeepers argued that the zoo enclosure had been weakened by a recent storm, allowing the chimps to escape.
Only one chimp appears to have fully left the enclosure, while others simply sat on their enclosure wall.
"They’re intelligent primates and know they’re not supposed to be out of their enclosure, so got back in themselves," zookeeper Alyn Cairns told the BBC.
This is the second prison breakout for the Belfast Zoo in two months. Last month, a red panda cub also escaped and was found in a garden less than a mile from the zoo.
#FreeTheCuteNonThreateningAnimals now.
Heather was the Web Trends reporter at Mashable NYC. Prior to joining Mashable, Heather wrote regularly for UPROXX and GOOD Magazine, was published in The Daily Dot and VICE, and had her work featured in Entertainment Weekly, Jezebel, Mic, and Gawker. She loves small terrible dogs and responsible driving. Follow her on Twitter @wear_a_helmet.
