Chimps use branches as ladder, escape zoo enclosure

BELFAST, Northern Ireland — Chimpanzees are nothing if not resourceful. A couple of chimps used a large tree branch as a makeshift ladder to get out of their enclosure at the Belfast Zoo Saturday.

The branch was propped against a wall, the BBC reported.

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Zoo visitors described the jailbreak as "cool, calm and well-executed," according to the BBC.

One chimp was seen wandering around the zoo paths, but most stayed on the wall surrounding their exhibit.

The chimps were returned to their inner enclosure.

The zoo staff are evaluating the trees in the primates' exhibit to see if they need to either be shortened or removed, the BBC reported.

This isn't the first time an animal at the zoo escaped its habitat. In January, a red panda was missing overnight but was discovered in a garden, The Guardian reported.

Cox Media Group