A young female chimpanzee, named Buri (old woman), sneaked out of her enclosure at the Alipore zoo on Monday morning when there were visitors close by.
Zoo officials said Buri managed to “swing past” a mesh of wires, which are connected to a battery-operated power supply system, and landed straight into the arms of her keeper who had to feed her a mango to coax her back into her cage.
Visitors on the zoo premises said they saw a little chimp swim through a moat inside her enclosure and mount a wall to reach the wire mesh.
The enclosure for chimpanzees is surrounded by a glass wall and has a green patch and water-filled moat inside. There is a gap of a few inches, covered with the wire mesh, between the glass wall and the concrete wall.
Zoo director Asis Kumar Samanta said Buri did not get any electric shock from the wires and there was no need to use any tranquillizer either.
Buri the chimp seen moving to the side of her enclosure at the Alipore zoo on Monday morning
“She is exceptionally intelligent. She managed to climb the wall, get hold of an iron rod and swing past the electrified mesh without hurting herself,” said Samanta.
“Had she got a shock, she would have fallen into the water, which she did not.”
The keeper was standing close to the enclosure when the incident happened and Buri landed on his arms. “There was no need for tranquilisation or force to control her,” Samanta said.
Some of the visitors who had crowded outside the enclosure for a glimpse of Buri and her brothers, Mastan and Chottu, screamed at the sight of a chimp coming out in the open.
Buri climbs into the moat surrounding her enclosure. (Right) The glass wall, the concrete wall and the gap, covered with wire mesh that Buri swung past
“There were three little chimpanzees. We were watching them. One of them was initially drinking water. Then suddenly it slipped into the water and swam to the wall where the glass partition ends. Seconds later it leaped out through a gap and landed outside. It was scary,” said Taufik Jaman Sarkar, a resident of Pandua, in Hooghly, who was visiting the zoo with his family.
Immediately after the incident, the enclosure was cordoned off and all the visitors were moved away.
“We removed the crowd to ensure there was no further panic,” said a zoo official.
The officials added this was not the first time Buri had escaped the enclosure.
Buri, who is little more than six years old, had arrived at the zoo when she was six, accompanied by two male chimps — one older and the other younger to her.
“They were rescued by the wildlife department from a location in Baguiati while they were being smuggled in. This zoo became their permanent home following a court order. The eldest of the three — a male chimp — was in the habit of beating the other two, so it was named Mastan. The youngest one was named Chottu. The third was a female chimpanzee and was the most intelligent and sensible of the lot. So, she was named Buri,” said a source at the zoo.
The three share the enclosure with a 36-year-old chimpanzee named Babu. The three are allowed to loiter in the enclosure between 5am and 1pm, after which they return to their cage.
Babu enters the enclosure at 1pm and stays till 5pm.
“Two years ago, we built a wooden watchtower inside the enclosure. After completion of the tower, we left the three chimpanzees near it to see their reaction. Mastan and Chottu started screaming and ran for cover seeing the strange thing. But Buri was silent and calm,” Samanta recounted.
“She stared at the watch tower as if looking for possible signs of attack. After a few minutes, when she was confident that the tower was not moving, she slowly hopped onto it, went to the top and inspected the area. A few seconds later, she made a typical sound calling her brothers. They immediately took the cue and ran towards her,” he said.