Romanian Cops Capture Escaped Monkey After 24 Hours

Story By: Amelia Guran, Sub EditorJoseph GolderAgency: Central European News

Video Credit: CEN/@Click

Romanian cops needed 24 hours to catch this escaped monkey after closing streets and ordering people to stay indoors in case it attacked.

The monkey, thought to be a male, escaped with two other monkeys thought to be a mother and baby, and while the female and younger monkey were recaptured by the owner, the third remained at large causing panic among locals.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@Click

Numerous people called local police and emergency services to report sightings, with the animal seen on homes, fields and gardens sometimes hiding and sometimes walking openly defying his captors.

And the monkey closely managed to stay one step ahead of police together with experts armed with tranquilliser guns who attempted to capture him.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@Click

In total 50 people including police officers and fireman together with the veterinarians armed with tranquilliser guns followed the animal with streets in the Romanian capital’s fifth sector closed and people ordered to stay indoors and not to make too much noise to avoid frightening the monkey and making it even harder to catch.

Ion Borichanu, the vet leading the bid to recapture the animal, warned: This is not a toy, this is a wild animal that escaped from somewhere. The best advice is not to approach it. The bite of the monkey leaves deep marks, because it has very large fangs. And the risk of transmission of disease is very high. It had recently been imported from Africa on Asian country, then the risk of disease is even greater.”

Pictures Credit: CEN/@Click

Bucharest mayor Gabriela Firey said she had been told the monkey was in private ownership. And Tudor Ionescu, General Advisor to Bucharest, was a person that revealed there had originally been three on the run although the owner had recaptured the mother and baby.

However, who the mystery person was that recaptured the other two and who presumably owns the third is not known. Maybe because Romania, the possession of exotic animals is punishable by imprisonment of one to three years or a criminal fine.

Pictures Credit: CEN/@Click

It was not revealed how the monkey was finally recaptured but officials confirmed it was now safe for the streets to be reopened and people to go back out into the gardens.

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