Primate Attacks and Escapes- Monkeys and Apes-Jeanne Rizziotto

As PETA states this is only a partial list. There are many bites, scratches and escapes that happen, that go "unreported." The following information is a partial list of "reported" incidents.

Information-Updated Jan. 15th, 2011
Primate Incidents in the United States PETA
The following is a partial listing of incidents involving captive primates in the United States since 1990. These incidents have resulted in the killing of 27 primates, one human death, and more than 195 human injuries. Contact PETA for documentation.

October 19, 2010/Kansas City, Missouri: Mark Archigo’s adult “pet” chimpanzee, Sueko, escaped from a cage inside a truck and rampaged through a Kansas City neighborhood for 40 minutes. Sueko charged at two young girls who were out for a morning walk, opened the passenger door of a sport utility vehicle that drove into the neighborhood, broke a gate and fence, and pounded on parked vehicles, passing cars, and the front door of a house. As authorities attempted to tranquilize the animal, Sueko charged a police car, pushed a trash can against its front bumper, climbed onto the car’s hood, pounded on the roof, and kicked the windshield, breaking it. Sueko was finally recaptured when she walked into Archigo’s van. Archigo has been in and out of legal trouble over Sueko since 1995
(see 2000/Jackson County, Missouri and 1995/Kansas City, Missouri).
September 2010/San Antonio, Texas: A spider monkey escaped from Primarily Primates after an enclosure was damaged by a tropical storm. The monkey traveled at least six miles in one day and was on the loose for nine days before being tranquilized and recaptured.
August 28, 2010/Miami, Florida: A white-handed gibbon escaped an enclosure at Jungle Island after a worker left the gate open. The gibbon jumped into a tiger enclosure, and a 500-pound tiger jumped over a fence and escaped into the park while chasing the ape. At one point, the tiger came face to face with a 2-year-old toddler. More than 100 park visitors were ushered into a dark barn for protection. Four people were hurt during the chaos and were treated  for minor injuries. A fifth person was transported to a hospital after suffering a panic attack. The gibbon was later found on a picnic table and recaptured.
July 31, 2010/Greenwich, New York: A lemur at the Ashville Game Farm bit a 7-year-old boy. The boy was petting the lemur as other people were feeding the animal when the boy was bitten on the thumb. The victim received a series of rabies shots and a judge ordered that three lemurs at the facility be killed and tested for rabies.
July 21, 2010/Hamilton County, Indiana: A 40-pound, 3-foot-tall “pet” patas monkey injured a teenage boy and bit a family dog on the ear after escaping from a cage and running through the family’s house for 20 minutes. Someone in the house called 911 and told the dispatcher that the monkey was a dangerous wild animal. A witness to the attack on the boy remarked that he had “never seen any animal jump on top of somebody and just start attacking him.” Family members locked themselves in different rooms to avoid the monkey until police, paramedics, and animal control responded to the 911 call.
July 21, 2010/Mechanicsville, Virginia: Six chimpanzees escaped an enclosure at Windy Oaks Animal Farm when a gate was left open. Two male chimpanzees were still on the loose when animal control received a call about the incident. Upon arriving at the scene, the animal control officer was advised by Curtis Shepperson, owner of Windy Oaks, to stay in his car in order to avoid further agitating the chimpanzees. Windy Oaks did not have knowledgeable staff or equipment on site to tranquilize the escaped chimpanzees. At least two hours after animal control was first called to the scene, a sheriff’s deputy shot one of the chimpanzees with a dart and the animal was returned.Animal control officials and sheriff’s deputies searched the compound for the second chimpanzee but could not find him. He was recaptured the next day. According to Windy Oaks’ veterinarian, this escape was the third
such incident at the facility.
July 18, 2010/Catskill, New York: A woman was mauled by a “pet” capuchin monkey who was being kept at the Kaaterskill Lodge. The victim was taking photographs of the monkey when the animal jumped out of the enclosure and attacked her. The woman was left with a scar down her cheek and had to receive rabies shots because Allen Hirsch, the owner of the lodge, disappeared with the monkey after the attack.
July 17, 2010/Wichita, Kansas: Nine chimpanzees escaped an enclosure at the Sedgwick County Zoo and were found in a maintenance area when keepers arrived at work in the morning. Eight of the chimpanzees were returned to the enclosure, but one adult male was loose for two hours before being tranquilized and recaptured.
February 2010/Palm Harbor, Florida: Two chimpanzees at a roadside zoo called Suncoast Primate Sanctuary escaped from a cage that was not properly secured. One of the animals, described as typically gentle, relentlessly attacked and chased a female volunteer. The victim, who escaped the attack by locking herself in a bathroom, was hospitalized for treatment of serious injuries, including a deep laceration on the back of her head, damaged tendons in her right hand, and bite wounds on her thigh, back, and abdomen. When a sheriff’s deputy responded to the incident, he was denied access and reported that zoo staff were “very uncooperative and intentionally deceptive and evasive.”
November 22, 2009/LaPorte, Indiana: A 10-month-old girl was attacked by a “pet” Java macaque belonging to Richard and Laura Burlos. The attack occurred when the girl was held too close to the cage. The monkey grabbed the hood of the infant’s coat, as well as her hair, causing the baby’s head to strike the metal cage repeatedly. The baby sustained a “rope burn” to her neck that was caused by the drawstring on her coat and had red marks on the back of her head as a result of her head hitting the cage.
November 12, 2009/Tampa, Florida: A macaque got loose in a residential neighborhood. It was not known where the monkey escaped from or how the animal got loose.
October 2009/Pine Mountain, Georgia: A mangabey at Wild Animal Safari escaped while staff was moving the animal from one enclosure to another. The monkey was shot and killed by zookeepers after climbing the zoo’s perimeter fence.
September 6, 2009/Scottsbluff, Nebraska: Four spider monkeys escaped from an enclosure at the Riverside Zoo while they were being fed. One of the monkeys attacked a zookeeper, who sustained bites to her arms and legs. The bites required multiple stitches. Three of the monkeys were quickly recaptured, but the fourth monkey remained loose on zoo grounds for approximately five hours.
September 1, 2009/Los Angeles: Two chimpanzees escaped from their crates while they were being unloaded at the Los Angeles Zoo following their transfer from Wildlife Waystation, which had been threatened by a wildfire. One chimpanzee climbed over the fence and into Griffith Park, where she was spotted approximately an hour later and secured in the back of a truck. The other chimpanzee remained loose on zoo grounds for 20 minutes before being tranquilized.
June 12, 2009/Columbia, South Carolina: A 390-pound gorilla at the Riverbanks Zoo and Garden escaped by grabbing some low-hanging bamboo, scaling the 12-foot-4-inch wall of the enclosure, and climbing over two highvoltage security wires. The animal rushed at two food-service employees, pushing one aside and knocking the other down before jumping back into the enclosure. One of the employees was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for cuts and bruises.
June 5, 2009/Candia, New Hampshire: A macaque escaped from an enclosure at Charmingfare Farm when a worker left two doors unlocked. The worker was bitten on his calf as he tried to recapture the animal. As a result of his injuries, the worker required medical attention.
May 26, 2009/Columbus, Ohio: A gorilla at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium escaped from an enclosure through a door that was improperly secured and walked into a hallway used by zookeepers. Visitors were evacuated from the area, and the zoo’s entrance was closed for approximately 45 minutes. While the entrance was closed, the gorilla was coaxed back into the enclosure.
April 21, 2009/ Corpus Christi, Texas: A squirrel monkey bit a man who was transporting the animal to Michigan. Animal control officers planned to quarantine the monkey for three months to test for diseases.
April 18, 2009/Salem, Oregon: A man’s “pet” monkey bit a 6-year-old girl at a park. The monkey lunged at the girl, grabbed her hair, scratched her, and bit her under the left eye, leaving two puncture marks. The man left the park before authorities arrived. The girl was taken to an urgent care facility, where she was treated.
April 14, 2009/Springfield, Missouri: A rhesus macaque escaped from an exotic-animal menagerie owned by Debby Rose. The macaque went to a nearby home, and when the homeowner knocked on a window to scare the animal off, the macaque lunged at the window.
April 3, 2009/Portland, Oregon: Nine macaques escaped from the Oregon Health & Science University when a worker left the cage unlocked. It took almost three days to recapture all the monkeys.
March 30, 2009/Winston, Missouri: A 9-year-old chimpanzee named Timmy escaped from his cage (which measured 10 feet by 6 feet) at a private residence and ran loose on a nearby state highway. Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to help recapture the chimpanzee, who at one point opened a deputy’s patrol car door, grabbed the deputy’s leg, and tried to strike him. When the chimpanzee attempted to attack the man again, the chimpanzee was shot and killed. The deputy suffered minor injuries and the owners of the chimpanzee suffered cuts and scratches.
March 13, 2009/Fruitland Park, Florida: A spider monkey named Reggie escaped from the Liebling Family Circus when the circus owner failed to latch the animal’s leash correctly. The monkey fled into nearby woods and was still on the loose three weeks later.
February 25, 2009/East Ridge, Tennessee: An obese “pet” spider monkey was found wandering through someone’s yard and was captured by animal control officials.
February 25, 2009/Athens, Georgia: An animal-care technician at the University of Georgia suffered a severe bite to her thumb while cleaning the cage of a capuchin monkey. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital and later transferred to a hand specialist in Atlanta for additional treatment.
February 19, 2009/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: An orangutan named Elok escaped from an enclosure at the Oklahoma City Zoo by climbing into the moat and then over the exhibit wall. Twenty zoo visitors were ushered into buildings until Elok was recaptured approximately 100 feet from his enclosure.
February 19, 2009/Seattle, Washington: A DeBrazza’s monkey at the Woodland Park Zoo escaped from an enclosure by swimming across a moat and climbing a rock wall. The zoo was evacuated and the monkey was on the loose for approximately 25 minutes before being tranquilized and recaptured. Other monkeys had previously escaped from the same enclosure.
February 16, 2009/Stamford, Connecticut: Sandra Herold’s 200-pound, 14-year-old “pet” chimpanzee named Travis escaped from the house and attacked a woman, inflicting massive injuries to her face and hands. The woman required more than seven hours of stabilizing surgery by four teams of doctors. She reportedly lost her hands, nose, lips, and eyelids in the attack. The bone structure of her face was also damaged, and she might have lost her vision and suffered brain damage. Doctors will determine if she may be a candidate for a face transplant. At least three other people—including two police officers—were injured during the fracas. In an effort to stop the attack, Herold stabbed the chimpanzee repeatedly with a butcher knife. Police officers shot him numerous times before he made his way back into the house where he died. Neighbors reported that they often saw Travis roaming the streets in the neighborhood, sometimes unleashed, and that he frequently rode around in trucks with his owners. Travis had been involved in at least two previous incidents [see October 19, 2003 and 1996/Stamford, Connecticut].
January 30, 2009/New Orleans, Louisiana: An orangutan named Berani escaped from his enclosure at the Audubon Zoo by stretching a T-shirt to help him scale a 10½-foot wall. He then wrapped the shirt around an electric wire surrounding the exhibit and finally swung out of the exhibit. The orangutan stood on a boardwalk with zoo visitors nearby for approximately 10 minutes before returning to his exhibit.
November 10, 2008/Carbon County, Montana: A woman was taken to a hospital for treatment after a chimpanzee named Conner latched on to her arm with his teeth. The woman lost 6 to 8 inches of skin. Conner was one of two chimpanzees who escaped from the home of Jeanne Rizzotto and ran to a neighbor’s yard, where they were seen chasing cats up trees, swinging from the roof of the house, and getting into cars and trucks. One of the chimpanzees was also seen crossing a highway. The bite victim had been trying to prevent Conner from entering a home. The animals were recaptured, and Conner was quarantined at Rizzotto’s home.
September 24, 2008/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: An 18-pound macaque monkey bit and then mauled the hand of a University of Pittsburgh laboratory technician. The macaque grabbed a pole that the technician was using to test the animal’s water system, pulled the woman’s hand into the cage, and bit her palm. “My hand was in its mouth," the woman said. "It was clamping down on it and munching on it for up to a minute. I had no choice but to pull my hand out in shreds.” The animal’s teeth penetrated to the bone and the woman sustained bone, tendon, and nerve damage. She underwent three surgeries to treat recurring infections and was released from the hospital after eight days, at which time she still had no feeling in two fingers and was awaiting results of blood tests on the monkey to determine if she had been exposed to hepatitis B or other infections.
August 8, 2008/Bend, Oregon: A 120-pound chimpanzee at Chimps, Inc., escaped from her unlocked enclosure and bit an intern. The intern was treated on the scene by firefighters and then driven to a hospital.
August 2008/Cincinnati, Ohio: A white-handed gibbon escaped from his cage at the Cincinnati Zoo and made his way to the parking lot where he bit a visitor on the leg. The gibbon was quarantined, and the zoo decided that he would no longer be allowed outdoors.
July 2008/Orange Park, Florida: A Japanese macaque was spotted running loose in a subdivision. Wildlife officials attempted to capture the animal with a trap and warned the public that macaques have sharp teeth and are prone to biting.
June 27, 2008/Devore, California: A chimpanzee named Moe escaped from his cage at Jungle Exotics, surprised construction workers when he wandered into a house next-door, and then continued on into the San Bernardino National Forest. After more than a month, search efforts were called off because of mounting expenses. Eight months later, Moe had still not been found.
June 11, 2008/Michigan City, Indiana: A spider monkey escaped from his enclosure at the Washington Park Zoo by using a garden hose to scale the wall of the moat. The moat had been emptied of water and was being cleaned by workers. The monkey was recaptured at a nearby boat dealership.
June 5, 2008/Queens, New York: A 22-month-old girl had her finger bitten off by a neighbor’s “pet” capuchin monkey when she stuck her fingers through her backyard fence and into the pen of the monkey who was caged next to the fence. Doctors worked for 12 hours attempting to reattach the girl’s finger but were unsuccessful. The monkey was euthanized in order to be tested for rabies.
May 17, 2008/Los Angeles, California: A 29-year-old orangutan at the Los Angeles Zoo punched a hole in the mesh of his exhibit and escaped into a holding area behind his cage. Zoo officials ushered visitors to the zoo exit while the orangutan was sedated by zookeepers.
May 17, 2008/Tampa, Florida: A 10-year-old orangutan escaped from her enclosure at Busch Gardens by scaling a 12-foot wall and climbing onto the roof of her exhibit, where she was just feet away from zoo visitors. The public, including a group of nearby children, was evacuated from the area. The orangutan was lured back to her enclosure nearly one hour after she escaped.
April 21, 2008/Polk County, Florida: Fifteen patas monkeys escaped from Safari Wild by swimming across a 60-foot-wide moat and then climbing a 28-foot fence. One monkey was shot to death, and it took nearly eight months to recapture the rest of them.
April 11, 2008/Trenton, Michigan: A 6-year-old girl was bitten on the finger by a “pet” Java macaque who was being walked on a leash near the church where the girl was playing. The girl had to undergo several tests as a result of the bite, and the monkey was expected to be euthanized.
March 21, 2008/Fresno, California: A black-and-white colobus monkey escaped from his enclosure at the Fresno Chaffee Zoo. The eastern portion of the zoo was closed to the public as zoo staff members attempted to recapture the monkey. Two and a half hours after the escape, he was shot with a tranquilizer dart and taken to the zoo hospital to recover.
March 2008/New Albany, Indiana: A child visiting a home was bitten by the owner’s “pet” capuchin monkey. The monkey was quarantined while county officials worked to obtain information about the animal’s health.
February 29, 2008/Gilbert, Arizona: A 3-year-old boy was bitten on the wrist by his family’s “pet” lemur. According to a local official, the emergency crew that responded to the incident reported that the bite was down to the bone. The boy was taken to a hospital for treatment.
February 28, 2008/Spokane, Washington: A “pet” macaque monkey who escaped from his owners’ home chased some boys who were walking a dog and bit one of the boys on the thumb; charged at a woman, grabbed her leg, and bit it; and bit an 18-year-old girl on the leg. The monkey was quarantined to be monitored for disease and ultimately euthanized to be tested for rabies.
December 2, 2007/Rutherford College, North Carolina: A grocery store clerk was bitten by a customer’s 18-inch-tall “pet” monkey when she reached out to pet the animal. The monkey bit and scratched her right cheek just below the eye. The victim was treated at a local hospital for the bite and put on strong antibiotics.
November 8, 2007/Columbia County, Georgia: A 17-month-old boy was bitten by a baboon with the Eudora Farms petting zoo at the Columbia County Fair. The boy’s father lifted him to feed the animal through the cage and the baboon bit the child’s hand.
November 6, 2007/Dripping Springs, Texas: A worker at Sunrise Exotic Ranch, a chimpanzee-breeding facility, was bitten by a chimpanzee named Ginny while she was feeding the animal. The woman sustained serious injuries to the fingers on her right hand, including partial amputation of one of the fingers.
September 28, 2007/Dallas, Texas: An elderly spider monkey escaped the enclosure she shared with two other monkeys at the Dallas Zoo. The monkey was loose for approximately 20 minutes.
September 22, 2007/Columbia, Missouri: A woman known for carrying her “pet” rhesus macaque into stores and to public events took the animal to a local park where the macaque bit a 7-year-old boy and an 11-year-old girl. The woman quickly left the park and was sought by local health officials for questioning.
August 13, 2007/Tupelo, Mississippi: For the second time in two weeks, a white-faced capuchin monkey named Oliver escaped from the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo. He was found the following day, approximately 4 miles from the park, and returned to the zoo. One man was bitten on the hand during the attempt to capture Oliver. This was Oliver’s third escape [See July 31, 2007 and 2001].
August 8, 2007/Madison, Wisconsin: A 1-year-old “pet” capuchin monkey bit a 21-year-old woman on the thumb at a beer garden and then eluded police for an hour before being recaptured. The monkey was declared dangerous by the Madison Environmental Health Services Department and was quarantined to be monitored for disease, and the owner was ordered to remove the animal from the city upon release from quarantine. The monkey had previously bitten at least one other person [see July 11, 2007].
July 31, 2007/Tupelo, Mississippi: A capuchin monkey named Oliver escaped from his cage at Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo and eluded capture for nearly a week before being recaptured. Zoo staff warned the public that Oliver would bite. This was Oliver’s second escape [see 2001].
July 11, 2007/Madison, Wisconsin: A “pet” capuchin monkey was placed under home quarantine after biting someone.
June 30, 2007/Cherokee, North Carolina: A capuchin monkey at Santa’s Land theme park escaped from the island where the monkeys were kept and was loose overnight before being recaptured the next evening. It was believed that the animal used low-hanging tree limbs to scale the wall and the high-voltage wire that surrounded the island.
April 24, 2007/Rankin County, Mississippi: A “pet” macaque monkey attacked an IRS agent. Although the monkey’s canine teeth had been removed, the agent sustained bites and scratches on her face and arms.
April 8, 2007/Otis, Oregon: A 12 year-old “pet” capuchin monkey escaped from a cage, ran through the neighborhood, attempted to attack residents, and cornered one man in his garage before being recaptured.
December 25, 2006/French Settlement, Louisiana: An 8-year-old boy was bitten twice on the arm and shoulder and suffered cuts and bruises when a “pet” ringtail lemur leapt from a roof and attacked him. The lemur was kept on a large estate, where the animal roamed freely and could not be located after the attack. The boy underwent four rounds of injections to prevent rabies and more than two weeks after the incident still had a fever and periodic headaches.
December 1, 2006/Nahunta, North Carolina: A “pet” Japanese macaque belonging to Frankie Piscopo escaped from Piscopo's home and was on the loose for almost two months before being recaptured more than 11 miles away.
October 28, 2006/Marquette County, Wisconsin: A woman was taken to the hospital after being bitten by a lemur at an exotic animal farm.
September 22, 2006/Horn Lake, Mississippi: A “pet” bonnet macaque knocked out the window frame of his cage and escaped into the neighborhood. He ran for one and a half blocks and attacked an animal control officer before being recaptured.
August 28, 2006/Chicago, Illinois: A 15-year-old girl was hospitalized in serious condition after being attacked by a “pet” rhesus macaque monkey. The girl’s arm was reportedly “bitten to the bone.” The agitated monkey attempted to escape from the house as animal control officers worked to recapture him.
June 1, 2006/ Naples, Florida: A mustached guenon at the Naples Zoo swam from the island where she and a male companion were housed and escaped to a wooded area of the zoo.
March 8, 2006/Bell County, Texas: A person bitten by a “pet” rhesus macaque was taken to the hospital for treatment. The monkey was killed to be tested for rabies.
February 3, 2006/Columbus, Ohio: A zookeeper at the Columbus Zoo was bitten while feeding a grape to an adult bonobo, also known as a “pygmy chimpanzee.” The zookeeper lost the tip of her finger and was treated at a hospital. All the zoo’s bonobos were isolated for 14 days to be monitored for health issues.
December 1, 2005/Covington, Kentucky: A “pet” monkey escaped and led authorities on a two-day chase through the neighborhood before being recaptured. A primate expert was concerned that the animal might suffer from frostbite while on the loose, and an animal control officer noted that the animal appeared to suffer from a cough. A monkey had been loose on the same block one year earlier.
November 14, 2005/Arizona: Several children were attacked and two were bitten when a “pet” monkey escaped from a cage and tore through a neighbor’s birthday party.
October 6, 2005/Eureka, California: Bill, the solitary chimpanzee at the Sequoia Park Zoo, escaped from his cage and wandered one and a half blocks from the zoo before it was discovered that he was missing. Bill was coaxed back to his cage by one of the zookeepers. This was Bill's second escape from the zoo―about 10 years previously, the door to Bill's cage was left open and he wandered off.
September 10, 2005/Royal, Nebraska: Workers at Zoo Nebraska failed to properly lock the chimpanzees' cage after cleaning, and all four made a break for freedom. The chimpanzees confronted zoo visitors, and at least one of the animals—possibly all four—walked into the town of Royal, where they attempted to enter businesses and where one chimp allegedly chased a 15-year-old boy into his home and another threw a grill at a van. When the animals tried to enter the building where zoo visitors and employees had taken refuge, three of the four chimpanzees were shot and killed. The surviving chimpanzee was transferred to an exotic-animal dealer in Missouri.
August 29, 2005/Springdale, Ohio: A monkey with the Hendricks Bros. Circus was frightened by a train whistle and fled into a nearby wooded area. He was found the next day, damp and hungry, huddled in the roof area of a picnic pavilion at a park.
August 27, 2005/San Antonio, Texas: A young chimpanzee escaped through a hole in the chain-link fencing of his cage at Primarily Primates, where many of the cages for the more than 600 primates were secured with only a small piece of wire.
July 20, 2005/Racine, Wisconsin: Max, a 19-year-old orangutan at the Racine Zoo, escaped into a hallway that connected to other zoo exhibits and three hours later was lured back to his cage with food.
July 11, 2005/Caldwell, Ohio: Two "pet" monkeys belonging to Hollis McIntiurff escaped their cage. One was recaptured after running loose for several hours. The second, a rhesus macaque, attacked a 20-year-old man who stopped his truck in order to avoid hitting the monkey on the road. The monkey jumped in the truck and bit him on the leg. The man was treated at a hospital and received a tetanus shot. Ten days after escaping, the monkey remained on the loose.
July 5, 2005/Chicago, Illinois: A 350-pound male silverback gorilla attacked an intern working in the animals’ habitat at the Lincoln Park Zoo. The gorilla shoved the woman down and "mouthed" her, pressing his lips and teeth against her back. She sustained puncture wounds and scratches as well as a sprained ankle and was treated by paramedics before being taken to the hospital.
June 2005/Morehead, Kentucky: A monkey reached through a car window and grabbed and bit a clerk’s hand at the drive-thru window of a Viking BP Mart while his owner, Jamie Dehart, was picking up an order.
May 7, 2005/Huntington, West Virginia: A leashed “pet” monkey who had been taken to a shopping center bit a 13-year-old girl in the parking lot. A woman holding the monkey’s leash had indicated that the animal was friendly, but when the girl and her father approached to pet the monkey, the monkey jumped on the girl's leg and bit her kneecap and finger. She was treated at a hospital.
March 3, 2005/Caliente, California: Four adult chimpanzees escaped from their cage at Animal Haven Ranch. The two male chimpanzees attacked a couple who were visiting their "pet" chimpanzee at the facility. The woman's thumb was bitten off and her husband was severely mauled. The chimpanzees bit off his nose, an eye, part of his cheek, lips, most of his fingers, both testicles and much of the flesh from his buttocks, face, and left foot. According to a medic at the scene, "His face was gone." The chimpanzees who attacked, both former "show biz" chimps raised at Bob Dunn's Animal Services, were shot and killed. The gunfire frightened the two female chimpanzees who ran into the hills and were on the loose for several hours before being recaptured. Three months and a dozen surgeries later, the man was pulled out of a medically induced coma.
December 9, 2004/Detroit, Michigan: A student was bitten by a cinnamon-ring tail cebus monkey at a wildlife show-and-tell at Wayne State University. The monkey was part of a menagerie brought by the Chicago-based Bill Hoffman’s Animal Rentals.
November 26, 2004/Evansville, Indiana: An ambulance was called to the Hadi Shrine Circus at Roberts Stadium after a circusgoer was bitten on the cheek by a chimpanzee belonging to by Zoppe-Rosaire Chimpanzees while posing for pictures. The patron was treated at the hospital for a puncture wound.
November 12, 2004/Palm Springs, California: A 16-year-old chimpanzee from Dan Westfall’s private menagerie escaped and ran loose in a residential neighborhood, banging on windows and pounding on doors. Police steered him back to Westfall’s home.
October 14, 2004/Fresno, California: The Chaffee Zoo evacuated visitors after an orangutan unraveled the netting on her cage and crawled out. She was loose for 10 minutes.
October 9, 2004/Gentry, Arkansas: A woman feeding animals at the Wild Wilderness Drive-Thru Safari was bitten by a chimpanzee who reached through the bars of the cage, grabbed her, and bit off much of her hand, including two fingers.
August 1, 2004/Brooklyn, New York: A 5-year-old macaque, used as a so-called “service animal,” attacked and bit a 2-year-old boy being wheeled by his grandparents in a shopping cart at a grocery store.
July 14, 2004/St. Louis, Missouri: A zookeeper at the Saint Louis Zoo was taken to the hospital after she was bitten by an orangutan while feeding the animal.
July 6, 2004/St. Charles, Minnesota: Two people agreed to undergo a series of rabies shots after they were bitten by a capuchin monkey who escaped from the Staples Safari Zoo during an appearance at the Winona County fairgrounds. The monkey was quarantined for 28 days.
May 26, 2004/Rochester, New York: A baboon at the Seneca Park Zoo escaped from his cage and climbed into nearby trees before he was tranquilized.
March 18, 2004/Dallas, Texas: A 300-pound gorilla named Jabari escaped from an enclosure surrounded by a 16-foot concave wall at the Dallas Zoo and attacked four people. A 3-year-old boy was critically injured as a result of multiple bites to his head and chest. The gorilla bit the boy's mother on her legs and threw her and the toddler against the wall. Another woman suffered injuries to her arms when she shielded several children from the gorilla. The fourth injured person was a child who was treated at the scene. Police evacuated 300 people and fatally shot the gorilla after he charged at officers. Some children had reportedly been teasing Jabari before the incident.
January 19, 2004/Los Angeles, California: The Los Angeles Zoo evacuated 9,000 visitors after an 80-pound chimpanzee named Gracie escaped from the enclosure for the fifth time. She was loose for 45 minutes before being tranquilized and captured.
January 8, 2004/Denver, Colorado: A gorilla named Evelyn escaped from an enclosure at the Denver Zoo and entered the keepers' area, where she spent 45 minutes before being tranquilized. Evelyn was originally from the Los Angeles Zoo and had escaped several times while at that facility.
December 27, 2003/St. Leonard, Maryland: A man was taken to the hospital for treatment after being bitten on the thumb by a pigtailed macaque who was being kept as a house “pet.”
October 30, 2003/Savannah, Georgia: Exhibitor Brian Staples was cited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for the escape of a spider monkey at the Georgia Coastal Fair. The monkey ran through the fair midway, a public area, before being recaptured.
October 19, 2003/Stamford, Connecticut: A 170-pound “pet” chimpanzee bolted from his owner’s sport utility vehicle in a busy downtown street. A dozen police cruisers were called to the scene as the chimpanzee charged officers and the crowds. He was recaptured two hours later.
September 28, 2003/Boston, Massachusetts: A gorilla named Little Joe escaped from an enclosure in Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, grabbed a toddler from a young woman's arms, then threw the child to the ground and jumped on her. Little Joe led more than 50 police officers and zoo staff members on a massive two-hour chase through darkened woods and along a nearby street outside the zoo. He finally collapsed after being shot repeatedly with tranquilizer darts and was returned to the zoo. The toddler required several stitches for a gash in her head. The gorilla also bit a zoo visitor on the back and attempted to attack other zoo staff members who were huddled in fear inside the ticket booth. Little Joe had also escaped during the previous month.
August 26, 2003/Rochester, New York: The Seneca Park Zoo evacuated visitors after a 300-pound orangutan escaped from a cage. During his 15-minute escape, the orangutan picked up a zoo volunteer, carried him into the cage, then pushed him back out.
August 13, 2003/Boston, Massachusetts: Little Joe, a gorilla at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo, scaled a 20-foot rock wall and escaped from the ape enclosure. He was recaptured 10 minutes later.
August 8, 2003/Chicago, Illinois: A “pet” monkey who escaped from her home was chased for much of the day by police and animal control officers before being cornered in a stairwell and captured in a net. An animal control officer was bitten by the monkey during the capture.
July 11, 2003/Southborough, Massachusetts: A squirrel monkey escaped from the New England Primate Research Center and was found 17 days later having been struck and killed on a road 10 miles away.
May 3, 2003/Fountain Hills, Arizona: A “pet” capuchin monkey broke out of his cage, turned the key on the front door, and took off on a three-day rampage. He was spotted by neighbors in the trees, in garages, and inside several cars.
April 19, 2003/Green Bay, Wisconsin: A “pet” capuchin monkey purchased on the Internet escaped when the owner brought him, perched on her shoulder, into a tavern.
September 10, 2002/Northwest Montana: A “pet” macaque taken to malls bit at least three people. One incident occurred at a restaurant, a second at a fruit stand, and a third at the owner’s residence. The monkey was quarantined and two victims went for medical treatment.
September 8, 2002/Hillsboro, Oregon: A female rhesus macaque escaped from the Oregon National Primate Research Center while being transferred between buildings. Police warned area residents not to approach the animal. She was recaptured two days later.
August 7, 2002/Racine, Minnesota: A volunteer at BEARCAT Hollow animal park was attacked by a monkey as she entered the cage. The monkey grabbed her hair and bit her on the finger. The volunteer needed five stitches and rabies shots.
August 4, 2002/Davenport, Iowa: A monkey with the Texas-based Gerald Eppel’s Monkey Business act performing at the Mississippi Valley Fair went berserk and jumped on a woman, hitting her head and biting her as she posed for a photograph. The woman filed a $5,000 lawsuit against the fair and the animal exhibitor.
June 23, 2002/Magnolia, Texas: A “pet” Java macaque attacked and bit a 9-year-old boy and a woman and severely scratched a firefighter, sending all three to the hospital for treatment.
May 13, 2002/Frankfort, Indiana: A lemur jumped on and scratched a keeper’s arm as she retrieved a food dish from the monkey’s cage at a petting zoo at the TPA park. The keeper needed seven stitches in her arm and the monkey was quarantined.
April 3, 2002/Honolulu, Hawaii: A Honolulu Zoo employee was attacked by a Siamang gibbon as she cleaned the animal’s sleeping area. The woman suffered cuts and bites to both legs and received 45 stitches.
January 10, 2002/Knox County, Tennessee: A “pet” Japanese snow macaque escaped from a backyard cage and attacked a neighbor, biting his back and hand.
November 23, 2001/Cleveland, Ohio: A “pet” capuchin monkey who had been taken to a restaurant attacked, bit, and scratched a patron, inflicting 16 puncture wounds. A subsequent lawsuit seeking more than $25,000 in damages for injuries and anxiety described the monkey as mischievous, ferocious, and/or vicious.
September 10, 2001/Danville, New Hampshire: A search party was organized after at least 10 monkey sightings were reported, including by the fire chief. The monkey, believed to be an escaped “pet,” was seen running across streets and into bushes and was described as being 8 feet long from his tail to his hands. Experts feared that the monkey would perish if not captured before winter.
July 27, 2001/Martinsburg, West Virginia: A “pet” monkey kept in a trailer park, believed to be a rhesus macaque, escaped and bit two children and a teenager. The bite victims underwent testing for herpes, tuberculosis, HIV, and other conditions.
June 14, 2001/Seattle, Washington: Woodland Park Zoo officials euthanized a 20-year-old lion-tailed macaque who tested positive for the herpes B virus.
June 9, 2001/Omaha, Nebraska: A squirrel monkey roaming freely and mingling with zoo visitors in an exhibit at Henry Doorly Zoo bit a woman’s finger, causing an infection, after she offered the animal a cookie.
May 12, 2001/Lakeland, Florida: Health officials searched in vain for a woman who brought a “pet” monkey on a leash to a festival after the monkey bit and scratched a man on the arm. The man was treated for herpes B for fear that he might have contracted the deadly virus.
April 22, 2001/Ventura, California: According to a Ventura County Animal Bite Record, a 2½-year-old male chimpanzee named Mr. P belonging to Sid Yost’s Amazing Animal Actors was ordered to be quarantined for 30 days after lunging at and biting a 12-year-old boy on the left hand.
April 19, 2001/Jefferson County, Missouri: Three chimpanzees with Chimparty, a company owned by Connie and Mike Casey that supplies primates for parties and TV commercials, escaped from an unlocked cage. A teenage boy shot and killed one of the chimpanzees.
February 4, 2001/Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: A crowd of 250 people cowered for 45 minutes inside a building at the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium after a 150-pound female gorilla crossed a moat, scaled a 14-foot wall, and began to wander around the zoo. Zookeepers lured the gorilla into a restroom and tranquilized her.
January 30, 2001/Las Vegas, Nevada: A 1-year-old female chimpanzee named C.J., belonging to Monica Riddell’s Xotic Stars of Las Vegas, bit a person on the finger during public exhibition.
2001/Tupelo, Mississippi: A capuchin monkey named Oliver escaped and ran amok on the grounds of Tupelo Country Club before being captured and returned to the Tupelo Buffalo Park and Zoo.
December 2, 2000/Oklahoma City, Oklahoma: A 5-year-old “pet” capuchin, who was taken on a shopping trip to Home Depot, attacked and bit a teenage shopper on the leg.
September 29, 2000/Tulsa, Oklahoma: A 4-year-old girl required hospital treatment after she was bitten or scratched on the cheek by a monkey who had been brought to a motel.
September 25, 2000/Maryville, Tennessee: A girl was treated at a hospital for a bite wound to her arm inflicted by her stepfather’s “pet” Japanese snow macaque.
September 23, 2000/Jarratt, Virginia: Three escaped monkeys threw fruit at vehicles traveling the interstate. After police arrived at the scene, the monkeys dashed across the interstate and disappeared into the woods.
August 29, 2000/Washington, D.C.: A 260-pound orangutan named Junior climbed down a tower at the National Zoo and wandered the zoo grounds for 45 minutes while nearly 100 zoo visitors were herded into buildings. He was shot with a tranquilizer dart and recaptured.
August 15, 2000/Sprague, West Virginia: A “pet” chimpanzee escaped from his cage for three hours, biting a teenager on the hand and biting a neighbor who had tried to restrain the 150-pound animal. The same chimpanzee had escaped in July 1998 and attacked a postal truck, forcing the driver to flee and causing the truck to crash.
August 12, 2000/Jessamine County, Kentucky: A woman who was eight months pregnant was hospitalized after one of her two “pet” rhesus macaques suddenly turned violent while her cage was being cleaned and bit the woman’s nose. The woman was given an anti-viral medication, which was a hazard to her pregnancy, in case the monkey tested positive for herpes B. She had been inspired to purchase “pet” monkeys when, as a child, she saw monkeys riding bicycles in a circus.
August 8, 2000/San Angelo, Texas: A capuchin “went crazy” and bit his owner. The owner shot the monkey seven or eight times, killing him. This is the same monkey who bit a neighbor on January 9, 1998.
August 3, 2000/Southwest Ranches, Florida: A “pet” spider monkey escaped from his cage and attacked two teenage girls. The girls were treated at the hospital for scratch and bite wounds to their faces, heads, and arms. The monkey was captured the next day. The same monkey had attacked a woman six months earlier.
August 1, 2000/Dover, Wisconsin: A “pet” Japanese macaque got loose and attacked two people. The monkey grabbed a neighbor around the waist and inflicted four bite wounds to the leg. Moments later, the monkey bit a postal carrier on the hand. The monkey was captured and killed.
July 24, 2000/Dallas, Texas: A chimpanzee was electrocuted after escaping from her habitat at the Dallas Zoo. She scratched a zookeeper, who required hospital treatment, and climbed a telephone pole. The zookeeper fired at the great ape with a shotgun, and a veterinarian fired a tranquilizer at the animal, causing her to fall. She was electrocuted as she grabbed for a power line.
July 18, 2000/Jefferson City, Missouri: A 7-year-old boy, riding his bicycle, was attacked by a neighbor’s “pet” rhesus macaque, who jumped from a tree and bit the boy’s arm. The child was subjected to a two-month ordeal involving doctors, needles, tests, and the fear of contracting the deadly herpes virus. The boy later received a $148,000 settlement from a lawsuit filed by his family.
July 2000/Los Angeles, California: Jim, a 350-pound 12-year-old gorilla, jumped across the 12-foot moat in an exhibit at the Los Angeles Zoo. He started to walk toward a group of schoolchildren and was squirted with water to steer him into another enclosure.
June 1, 2000/Columbia, Maryland: An escaped 2½-foot-tall spider monkey chased a woman who had just stepped outside her home and bit her on the thigh, then ran away.
May 31, 2000/Pensacola, Florida: An orangutan at The Zoo escaped from an unlocked cage and attacked a zookeeper. The keeper was treated at a hospital for bruises and five bite wounds. The orangutan was lured back to her cage 45 minutes later with food.
May 2000/Tulsa, Oklahoma: A monkey bit a boy in a pet store.
April 9, 2000/Franklin, Tennessee: A chimpanzee named Angel, brought by Sid Yost (also known as Ranger Rick Kelly) to Blockbuster Video for photo ops and to promote a Critter Gitter movie, fiercely bit a 9-year-old girl on the hand after posing for a photograph. The girl’s hand swelled and required stitches. Yost left the state before the chimpanzee could be quarantined and was issued a citation for violating Tennessee’s exotic animal law. Yost failed to show up in court and never paid the fine. The girl’s parents filed a $50,000 lawsuit against Yost, Critter Gitters, and Blockbuster, claiming that the defendants should have been aware of the danger inherent in subjecting Angel to a crowded area with so many children. None of the parties named in the lawsuit offered to pay for medical expenses.
February 13, 2000/Lansing, Illinois: A “pet” Java macaque attacked his owner, inflicting 6-inch-deep bites and cuts on her head, arms, and legs and causing her to lose 1½ pints of blood. She underwent three hours of surgery and 12 weeks of physical therapy. The monkey was killed for rabies tests.
January 14, 2000/Palm Harbor, Florida: A “pet” spider monkey escaped from a backyard cage and attacked a dog who was being walked by a neighbor. The dog went into shock and suffered serious artery and tendon damage.
December 28, 1999/Des Moines, Iowa: A rhesus macaque found wandering the streets on November 23, 1999, bit an animal control officer.
December 15, 1999/Rancho Bernardo, California: An escaped 3-foot-tall spider monkey led police on a two-hour chase, frightened residents, and bit a police officer.
November 1, 1999/Euless, Texas: A “pet” capuchin monkey attacked and bit an elderly woman.
October 4, 1999/Evansville, Indiana: A child was bitten on his finger by a macaque at Mesker Park Zoo. Two of the zoo’s six macaque monkeys selected at random tested positive for the herpes B virus.
September 1, 1999/West Covina, California: A “pet” chimpanzee bit off the fingertip of a woman visiting the owner’s home. This is the same chimpanzee who attacked four people on August 19, 1998.
August 5, 1999/Bellevue, Nebraska: A police officer was sent to the hospital after a macaque with a history of biting people bit him on the leg.
July 31, 1999/Kissimmee, Florida: A “pet” capuchin escaped and attacked a boy, scratching his leg. The monkey bit one police officer on the leg and pulled the hair of another before he was recaptured.
June 20, 1999/Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: An orangutan at the Philadelphia Zoo escaped from the exhibit he was in and ran loose in the zoo for 25 minutes before he was tranquilized by a veterinarian.
May 11, 1999/Idaho Falls, Idaho: A woman went to the hospital after a caged “pet” monkey bit her.
April 15, 1999/Punta Gorda Isles, Florida: A police officer used a 12-gauge shotgun to shoot and kill a 2-foot-tall rhesus macaque. The monkey had been running loose and acting aggressively toward residents for a month.
April 1, 1999/Glen Burnie, Maryland: A 2-year-old Bonnet macaque bit a woman on the lip at a tavern, touching off a brawl in which two other people were bitten. Animal control had instances on file in which seven other people had been bitten or scratched by the 9-pound “pet” monkey. The owners ignored animal control orders not to take the monkey out in public. One of the injured parties filed a $25,000 lawsuit.
February 27, 1999/Salt Lake City, Utah: Chip, Happy, and Tammy, chimpanzees at Hogle Zoo, escaped from a cage and attacked two zoo staff members. One employee, who was in serious condition, was hospitalized for nearly four weeks after one finger, part of a second finger, and part of his nose were bitten off. His left ear was also partially severed, and he suffered severe lacerations on his face, head, arms, and chest. A second employee was treated for cuts and scrapes. Chip and Happy were shot with shotguns by zoo employees and later euthanized. The USDA issued an official warning against the zoo for failure to securely contain primates. The zoo later settled a lawsuit brought by the seriously injured employee.
January 13, 1999/Hillsborough, Florida: A “pet” capuchin attacked her owner, biting her 50 times on the hands and legs.
December 7, 1998/Kansas City, Missouri: A male orangutan named Joe used a tire to climb over the wall of an outdoor pen and escape from an exhibit at the Kansas City Zoo. Zoo visitors noticed him after he made his way to the sheep barn. He was tranquilized and recaptured.
November 28, 1998/Dallas, Texas: A 340-pound gorilla named Hercules escaped from an open cage at the Dallas Zoo and attacked a zookeeper, dragging her down a hallway and biting her on her arm and side. Hercules was shot with a tranquilizer dart, and the zookeeper was hospitalized. The USDA fined the zoo $25,000 for alleged violations of the federal Animal Welfare Act.
November 1, 1998/Euless, Texas: A spider monkey bit a student at an elementary school.
October 4, 1998/Slidell, Louisiana: An escaped “pet” vervet ran wild in a house, knocking over a lamp and attacking two women, biting one on the arm and slashing the legs of another with teeth and claws. A police officer who responded to the frantic 911 call was also attacked. The monkey threw a picture frame at him, then jumped on him and bit him. Both women needed stitches. The monkey was killed.
August 19, 1998/West Covina, California: A “pet” chimpanzee escaped from his cage and went berserk, biting four people and denting a police car with his fists during a three-hour rampage. One officer required three surgeries on his hand at a cost of $250,000.
July 6, 1998/Sprague, West Virginia: A “pet” chimpanzee escaped from his enclosure and attacked a postal truck, forcing the driver to flee and causing the truck to crash.
May 1, 1998/Wichita, Kansas: A macaque bit a child and a teenager at a store during a promotional event.
April 13, 1998/Atlanta, Georgia: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that four lab workers who handled monkeys had become infected with monkey viruses.
January 28, 1998/Los Angeles, California: An employee was bitten by an orangutan at the Los Angeles Zoo. As the keeper stooped down to speak to the animal, she held onto the chain-link fence between them. The orangutan grabbed her finger and bit the tip, which subsequently required amputation.
January 9, 1998/San Angelo, Texas: A “pet” capuchin bit a 19-year-old neighbor man, who underwent rabies shots.
January 5, 1998/Madison, Wisconsin: Henry Vilas Zoo announced that its 150 macaques had been exposed to herpes B. One-third of them were infectious carriers and were considered to pose a public health risk.
December 28, 1997/Charlotte County, Florida: A 6-year-old visiting Octagon Exotics was attacked by a caged baboon, who pulled out chunks of her hair and attempted to bite her.
December 10, 1997/Atlanta, Georgia: A Yerkes primate researcher died of herpes B after she was splashed in the eye with bodily fluids from a rhesus macaque.
October 6, 1997/South Barrington, Illinois: A baboon at a petting zoo bit a 4-year-old girl.
August 15, 1997/Elburn, Illinois: A baboon with a traveling zoo scratched a 15-year-old girl’s leg during a parade.
August 8, 1997/Hartford, Connecticut: A “pet” Java macaque got away while being taken for a walk and attacked an elderly neighbor woman, grabbing her hair and biting her arm.
July 12, 1997/Glen Burnie, Maryland: A 6-year-old girl who had been bitten in the face by a “pet” bonnet macaque while at a carnival was treated at a nearby hospital for her wound and received six shots to her face, arms, and legs.
July 7, 1997/Bridgton, Maine: State game wardens seized a “pet” squirrel monkey after the animal bit and scratched a woman standing in a supermarket checkout line.
June 29, 1997/Bourbonnais, Illinois: A vervet with a traveling zoo bit a 3-year-old girl in the face at a festival.
May 27, 1997/Little Rock, Arkansas: A 375-pound gorilla named Rocky and a 180-pound gorilla named Tammy escaped from a cage and entered a work area at the Little Rock Zoo.
April 24, 1997/Rockwell, North Carolina: A chimpanzee named Sydney pried back a steel bar on his cage and escaped from the Charlotte Metro Zoo, scaring neighbors as he roamed free for a week. Animal control officers spent 115 hours searching for the great ape. Sydney was finally captured in a neighbor’s yard and taken back to the zoo, but as he was being returned to his cage, he broke free and bit a television news camera operator twice on the arm. The bite went through the man’s wrist to the bone, severing tendons and damaging nerves; the photographer was permanently injured and suffered excruciating pain for a year.
March 1, 1997/Houston, Texas: An 8-year-old capuchin turned on his owner and nearly killed her, severing her thumb and part of her index finger and slicing her legs.
September 28, 1996/Los Angeles, California: Actor Elizabeth Hurley reeled back in shock when she was bitten on the ear by a chimpanzee while appearing on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show.
September 22, 1996/Palm Beach, Florida: A pigtailed macaque who tested positive for herpes B bit a 4-year-old girl on the shoulder while he was being taken for a walk. The “pet” monkey had been kissed and held by hundreds of people. Authorities confiscated the animal.
May 18, 1996/Staten Island, New York: Four heavily armed emergency service police officers chased a capuchin monkey through a residential neighborhood for 45 minutes. The monkey escaped, fleeing into woods near the Staten Island mall.
April 6, 1996/Alice, Texas: Two monkeys imported into a research facility were infected with the deadly Ebola virus. One monkey died and the other was killed.
March 24, 1996/Gainesville, Florida: Residents were warned not to catch, feed, or touch a rhesus macaque who had been exposed to the herpes B virus. The macaque had escaped from a research farm.
February 28, 1996/Metairie, Louisiana: A “pet” vervet was impounded after biting an animal control officer during a home inspection. The monkey had earlier scratched the owner’s 2-year-old son.
February 12, 1996/Tulsa, Oklahoma: Six chimpanzees at the Tulsa Zoo escaped by scaling a wall, forcing an evacuation of the zoo that lasted five hours.
February 1, 1996/Bridgton, Maine: The same squirrel monkey who attacked a woman on July 7, 1997, in a supermarket bit a child during a school demonstration.
1996/Stamford, Connecticut: Sandra Herold’s “pet” chimpanzee named Travis bit a woman and tried to pull her into a car. The woman had to get rabies shots.
November 14, 1995/Acadiana, Louisiana: A zoo worker at the Zoo of Acadiana was viciously attacked and bitten on the leg by a monkey who escaped during a medical exam. The employee was off work for several days with an infected leg.
September 8, 1995/Royal Oak, Michigan: The owner of a 3-year-old spider monkey received 17 stitches in his lower lip after the monkey attacked him.
July 16, 1995/Los Angeles, California: A Los Angeles Zoo volunteer was placing popcorn in the monkey exhibit when a monkey mauled her. She sustained lacerations, puncture wounds, and deep cuts, leaving her disfigured and permanently disabled. A lawsuit was filed against the zoo.
June 3, 1995/Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania: An escaped “pet” monkey grabbed a kitchen knife and cigarette lighter, holding police at bay for nearly two hours. The monkey ran through the house and bit two women. Animal control caught the monkey with a snare. The monkey later died in a cage.
April 10, 1995/Asheboro, North Carolina: Tammy, a chimpanzee at the North Carolina Zoological Park, escaped from an enclosure that was surrounded by moats and a 12-foot concrete wall. The zoo was evacuated as Tammy walked around for 20 minutes before being coaxed back to the enclosure.
January 7, 1995/Baton Rouge, Louisiana: A chimpanzee named Reggie escaped by pulling a wire on a cage at the Baton Rouge Zoo. Reggie was being transferred to another exhibit after he had been attacked and injured by another chimp. He was tranquilized and recaptured.
January 1, 1995/Kansas City, Missouri: A “pet” chimpanzee bit a 7-year-old girl, causing her to have to undergo rabies treatment. Authorities had received numerous complaints that the chimpanzee ran loose and had attacked several people.
November 30, 1994/Boca Raton, Florida: A 5-inch “pet” marmoset, smuggled into a restaurant in a bag, escaped and bit a diner on the ear.
November 11, 1994/San Francisco, California: The San Francisco Zoo alerted area residents to be on the watch for an escaped patas monkey.
August 20, 1994/Tulane, Louisiana: Residents began calling authorities after spotting monkeys near their homes. The monkeys were among 28 pigtailed macaques who had escaped from the Delta Regional Primate Research Center.
August 9, 1994/Surprise, Arizona: A 4-year-old boy developed an eye infection after being bitten and scratched by two macaques. The boy’s mother had obtained the monkeys as “pets” three weeks earlier.
August 2, 1994/Knoxville, Tennessee: Residents were warned that an escaped “pet” spider monkey might bite. The animal got loose in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
August 2, 1994/New Smyrna Beach, Florida: Five Japanese macaques donated to Ashby Acres Wildlife Park by the Pittsburgh Zoo were found to be infected with herpes B.
June 30, 1994/Phoenix, Arizona: A “pet” Java macaque escaped from his backyard cage and ran throughout a residential neighborhood for 17 hours before he was recaptured.
May 13, 1994/St. Paul, Minnesota: Casey, a 400-pound gorilla, scaled a 15-foot concrete wall and wandered around the Como Zoo for 45 minutes while a group of kindergarten students were ushered to safety. Casey was shot with a tranquilizer and returned to the enclosure.
February 1, 1994/Kansas City, Missouri: A “pet” chimpanzee jumped on a man and bit him, causing injuries that needed medical treatment.
July 11, 1993/Rolling Meadows, Illinois: A leashed guenon grabbed an 11-year-old girl’s leg and inflicted three bite wounds that required stitches. Animal control had tried unsuccessfully to confiscate the monkey years earlier after police alleged that the animal had bitten several people.
July 9, 1993/Niagara, New York: A man was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he received stitches to close bite wounds from his “pet” patas monkey.
June 18, 1993/San Diego, California: An orangutan named Indah climbed a wall in an enclosure and entered a viewing deck containing about 30 zoo visitors at the San Diego Zoo. Indah was tranquilized and recaptured 30 minutes later.
May 17, 1993/Seattle, Washington: A 300-pound orangutan named Towan escaped from an enclosure at the Woodland Park Zoo and remained in a holding area. He was recaptured nearly two hours later, after being shot with a tranquilizer dart.
January 21, 1993/Los Angeles, California: Three chimpanzees named Toto, Bonnie, and Gracie escaped from an enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo by scaling a moat using a rope that had been tossed into the enclosure by a visitor. Frightened zoo visitors fled to safety. Two of the chimpanzees were coaxed back into their cage within 45 minutes, and the third was tranquilized and recaptured.
October 12, 1992/Dripping Springs, Texas: A 180-pound chimpanzee bent the bars of his cage and escaped from Sunrise Exotic Ranch, a chimpanzee-breeding facility. The animal bit a 15-year-old boy and threw a 77-year-old woman to the ground. Sheriff’s deputies and an animal control officer returned the chimpanzee to the ranch. The boy was treated for a bite to the hand at a minor emergency clinic, and the elderly woman suffered facial injuries.
September 28, 1992/Bronx, New York: Kongo, a 500-pound gorilla at the Bronx Zoo, escaped while he was being transferred from one cage to another. He bit one keeper on the thigh and a second on the shoulder. Both keepers required hospitalization treatment. The gorilla was tranquilized and dragged back into the cage.
September 28, 1992/Miami, Florida: A 400-pound gorilla named Jimmy at the Miami Metrozoo unlatched a lock on a cage, entered a holding area, and harassed and bit a keeper, who required hospital treatment.
August 24, 1992/Inman, South Carolina: A 78-year-old woman hanging sheets on a clothesline in her backyard was attacked twice by one of three chimpanzees who had escaped from Hollywild Animal Park. The woman was repeatedly knocked to the ground and rolled around by the 100-pound chimp. She was treated for minor injuries at a medical center.
July 15, 1992/New York, New York: A leashed monkey slapped and scratched a subway clerk on the head when a man attempted to bring him into the subway station.
July 6, 1992/Miami, Florida: Police warned area residents of rogue rhesus and Java macaques who had bitten a toddler, attacked a police officer, and terrorized a suburban parking lot. One monkey was shot and killed.
June 22, 1992/San Diego, California: Mema, a 400-pound gorilla, escaped from an enclosure through a door that had been left open at the San Diego Zoo and roamed free for two and a half hours before he was tranquilized.
May 8, 1992/Norcross, Georgia: A 2-year-old squirrel monkey kept in a cage at a pet shop bit a teenager.
March 23, 1992/Los Angeles, California: For the second time in three days, chimpanzees Pandora, Tota, Judeo, Gerrard, and Bonnie used a tree limb to escape from an enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo. The chimps were recaptured within an hour.
March 21, 1992/Los Angeles, California: Chimpanzees Pandora, Tota, Judeo, and Gerrard used a tree limb to escape from an enclosure at the Los Angeles Zoo. The zoo was closed for an hour while the chimps were recaptured.
February 1, 1992/Fashion Island, California: A man's “pet” monkey bit a woman. The man was accused of trying to sell tiger and lion cubs from the back of a convertible.
December 29, 1991/Baton Rouge, Louisiana: An 80-pound chimpanzee named Candi escaped from a local amusement park for an hour, disrupted traffic, and injured two people. She was shot with a tranquilizer gun.
October 24, 1991/Seattle, Washington: Three frightened Woodland Park Zoo volunteers were trapped for 40 minutes in an exhibit with a 300-pound male orangutan named Towan after he, three female orangutans, and a baby orangutan escaped from a pen. The volunteers escaped, and the five orangutans climbed onto the roof of the exhibit, where they stayed for two hours before being tranquilized and recaptured. Zoo visitors, including 55 children from a local elementary school, were evacuated.
July 25, 1991/Jefferson, Arkansas: An animal handler filed a $100 million claim against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services because he allegedly contracted a deadly virus when he was scratched by a macaque while working at the National Center for Toxicological Research.
June 26, 1991/Tampa, Florida: Nearly 100 spectators were evacuated from the Lowry Park Zoo after Rudy, an 80-pound orangutan, scaled the wall of an exhibit, bounded over a ledge, crossed a sidewalk, and climbed to a nearby rooftop during an escape that lasted 10 minutes. Zookeepers coaxed her from the roof.
June 10, 1991/Little Rock, Arkansas: At the Little Rock Zoo, two chimpanzees named Kim and Jodie escaped from a cage through an unlocked door. About 800 zoo visitors had to be evacuated from the premises for an hour.
October 23, 1990/St. Petersburg, Florida: An escaped “pet” capuchin ran into a neighbor’s home, grabbed food in the kitchen, darted outside, and bit a woman as she grabbed him.
July 7, 1990/Southeast Portland, Oregon: Two leashed and collared chimpanzees went out of control during a Circus Gatti performance. They dragged the trainer into the stands and pulled a child from her seat and onto the arena floor, then mauled her.
June 6, 1990/Kansas City, Missouri: A 127-pound orangutan named Cheyenne unscrewed four bolts to escape from a cage at the Kansas City Zoo. Visitors screamed as mothers pushed their children in strollers to safety. Cheyenne was tranquilized and taken back to the cage 20 minutes later.
June 1990/Detroit, Michigan: A chimpanzee escaped from an exhibit at the Detroit Zoo. Zoo visitors had to be evacuated from the premises for an hour while staff members attempted to recapture her.

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