An orangutan escaped the enclosure at Busch Gardens in Tampa Friday, setting off a partial evacuation of the park.
- 2nd Orangutan escape in recent weeks
- Orangutan moved around in tree as guests watched
- Busch Gardens evacuated Stanleyville area
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials confirmed that the orangutan has been returned to its enclosure. They issued the following statement:
"An orangutan escaped its enclosure, it was confined to the park the whole time. It has since been darted and returned to its cage."
FWC is now on scene investigating how the orangutan got out, as well as inspecting the type and condition of the enclosure to confirm it is the proper type to contain an orangutan.
Busch Gardens said it was a female orangutan. The animal got out of the orangutan enclosure in Jungala, which is in the northwest part of the park.
Busch Gardens released this statement on Twitter after the animal was returned to her enclosure:
"This afternoon, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay moved guests safely out of the Stanleyville area of the park when a female orangutan was outside her habitat. The animal care team responded immediately and the animal is back safely and securely in the habitat without incident. The safety of our guests, employees and animals is our number one priority."
Park guests at Busch Gardens on Friday took pictures and shot video of the orangutan out of its enclosure and loose in the park.
This is the second incident in the past few weeks in which an orangutan has escaped its enclosure. On June 16, a juvenile orangutan got loose in an area of the park away from guests, and was returned to its enclosure unharmed.