A daring orangutan cartwheeled, tight-rope-walked and trapezed its way out of an enclosure at the Toronto Zoo this week, officials said.
Kembali — one of the zoo’s seven Sumatran orangutans — was caught monkeying around an area outside of his brand-new outdoor orangutan exhibit Thursday, leaving staff scratching their heads as to how the animal left the otherwise secure perimeter.
Fortunately, several attentive guests caught the great escape on video, revealing Kembali’s swift and athletic maneuvers.
A four-second clip shows the orangutan swinging from O-line ropes to an elevated platform, from which he shimmied his way down.
The fuzzy animal executed a nearly perfect “cartwheel-like motion” to avoid a hot wire barrier near the top of the tower made to prevent escapes like Kembali’s, the zoo said in a statement Saturday.
“From there he was able to climb down the tower,” the Toronto Zoo said.
The freedom was short-lived, as the escape artist was quickly recaptured and brought back to his enclosure without incident.
According to the zoo’s previous social media posts, Kembali had only tested the new O-line equipment for the first time last month.
To no surprise, he was also the first of the zoo’s seven Sumatran orangutans to play on the ropes.
The ropes are set up so that the orangutans can tread across them and explore pavilions throughout the outdoor exhibits, offering zoo visitors a chance to watch the animals from below.
The outdoor exhibit has since been shuttered out of precaution and the zoo is re-evaluating what modifications are required to prevent another escape.
“While we continue to investigate this incident, the outdoor orangutan habitat will be closed to guests and media until further notice,” the zoo said.
