Zoo escapees make proper monkeys out of keepers

A TROOP of cheeky monkeys has forced Edinburgh Zoo to shut part of its park after escaping from their enclosure.

The inquisitive primates made a break for freedom while being transferred from one monkey area to another.

Zoo officials said they had managed to catch some of the escapees, but four were still in trees yards from the enclosure, making a monkey of them.

Armed with bananas and nets, zoo keepers tried to lure the animals into cages yesterday afternoon. However, one onlooker said the monkeys – three adults and a baby – grabbed the fruit and ran back into the trees.

Lynsey Scott, 28, said: "We were watching the lions when all of a sudden a monkey jumped out of a tree in front of us and the lions started to look rather interested. The lions started roaring and the monkey made loud chattering noises – it was so noisy but amazing, as it was like watching real wildlife.

"Then keepers arrived with loads of bananas in their pockets as well as nets and cages. But the monkeys just kept grabbing the bananas and running off."

Edinburgh Zoo staff said the group of barbary macaques escaped on Friday while they were being moved.

They insisted the primates were sociable creatures and posed no threat to the public.

An area called Barbary Rock, where the monkeys were being moved to, remained roped off last night, although the zoo was open over the weekend.

A spokeswoman for the zoo said last night that staff were still trying to catch the monkeys.

She said: "Keepers were able to catch some of the macaques and they were placed back in the enclosure. The rest could not be caught, but they are still within zoo grounds.

"Macaques are highly social animals and the group will remain together, so they are highly unlikely to stray far from the enclosure.

"We will continue our efforts to catch the remaining animals. We are still open to visitors, but we may have to close some pathways around the macaque enclosure, and we ask for their understanding and co-operation with this matter."

This is not the first time monkeys have escaped from Edinburgh Zoo.

In February last year, a monkey was shot dead after escaping from a rabies quarantine cage.

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Visitors were asked to leave the 110-acre zoo as keepers rounded up the chimps.

"We had an army of chimps eating their way through the keeper's kitchen and the decision was taken, quite rightly, to evacuate," a spokeswoman said.

"By around 4pm we had managed to get all the chimps back in their enclosure."

There were no injuries to members of the public or staff, and the zoo said the decision to evacuate was taken as a precautionary measure.