NEWS - TWO 400 LB GORILLAS ESCAPE KASAS CITY ZOO

Two 400-pound gorillas escape KC zoo 

 

by NBC News

Posted on February 21, 2012

Two 400-pound gorillas got loose at the Kansas City Zoo Sunday afternoon, and guests in the Africa section of the zoo were quarantined for about an hour.

The gorillas, Mbundi and Ntondo, were in a holding area during routine maintenance when somebody forgot to fasten a lock, zoo director Randy Wisthoff said.

The gorillas got into a zookeeper workspace, prompting zoo officials to call a “Code Red,” which means an animal is not where it’s supposed to be.

Wisthoff said there was another safety door preventing the gorillas from getting out in public areas, but two employees were in the area when the gorillas got.

“If probably anyone was in danger, those two keepers were,” Wisthoff said.

Nobody knew how the gorillas would react to being in the same room with the zookeepers.

“Gorillas are very territorial,” Wisthoff said, “and you just don’t know.”

Guests were evacuated from the Africa portion of the zoo.

The gorillas were contained, but were not in an area that they were supposed to be in.

A few people were in the gorilla exhibit during the situation.

Alex Judge said the workers were scrambling to get out of the enclosure.

"They pushed a ladder up to get over the retention wall and when she got to the top she was quickly pulling people over and then they pushed the ladder over and that's when they told us to leave," said Judge.

Zoo guests were sent to various zoo buildings while the gorillas were corralled.

"They called a 'code red' and made everyone leave. It's disappointing," said Teresa Smith.

The zoo’s three other gorillas were not involved in the incident.

Kansas City Zoo officials said on Monday they are questioning workers about Sunday's incident at the zoo.