4 chimpanzees euthanized after escaping from zoo enclosure and roaming freely in Sweden
Four chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure at a Swedish zoo and roamed freely before being captured and euthanized on Wednesday, according to Swedish media.
Annika Troselius, spokesperson for the group that runs Furuvik Zoo, tells Expressen that the animals had to be euthanized because there was not enough tranquilizers for all of them.
She said the chimpanzees are strong and dangerous animals and the zoo’s main focus “is that no human gets hurt.”
Troselius told Sweden’s radio that a fifth chimpanzee is believed to have left its enclosure, although there were no other immediate details.
In a notice published on its websitethe zoo confirmed that a “number of chimpanzees” had escaped.
“Safety is the most important thing to us, but these are also animals we care deeply about,” the statement said.
It was unclear how the mammals were able to escape from their enclosure.
Furuvik Zoo is located near Gävle, 100 miles north of Stockholm, and had seven chimpanzees. It is part of a theme park. According to the park’s website, it is also the only primate research station in the Nordics. The zoo made headlines in 2009 after one of its chimpanzees – named Santino – calmly collected a piece of rock and then threw it at zoo visitors. A study based on the animal later confirmed that monkeys can plan ahead just like humans.
In 2016, a chimpanzee famously made one daring escape from a zoo in Japan before being sedated. Even after being hit, the chimpanzee tried to escape, dangling from a power line. He finally gave up and fell headfirst into a blanket held by a dozen workers on the ground.
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