The Toronto Zoo says it has determined how one of its orangutans managed to briefly escape from its outdoor habitat on Thursday evening.
In an update on Saturday, Aug. 31, the zoo said videos and photos sent by members of the public who visited the orangutans’ enclosure on the evening of Aug. 29 helped it gain a better grasp of how Kembali, a male orangutan, “was able to climb down the tower and access the area just outside the habitat.”
“[O]ur preliminary investigation shows that Kembali was on one of the towers at the south end of the outdoor habitat when he swung in a cartwheel-like motion from the bottom rope (o-line) to the platform, around the secondary barrier (hot wire) near the top of the tower, and then grabbed a gusset (steel bracket) located under the platform,” said the zoo in a series of posts on X.
“From there he was able to climb down the tower.”
Kembali is one of seven Sumatran orangutans, a critically endangered species, residing at the Toronto Zoo. The zoo’s outdoor orangutan habitat opened just over a year ago as a new space integrated into an existing indoor habitat.
The new 13,000-square-foot space, which cost $11 million to construct, was “built to stimulate the orangutans’ physical, social, and intellectual needs,” said the zoo’s press release from June 30, 2023.
It includes towers, climbing structures, and a splash zone for water play along with a research station where animal behavioural scientists can study these tree dwellers, called “Guardians of the Rainforest.”
‘Situations We Prepare For’
Kembali was returned to the habitat “without incident” after staff responded quickly to a notification by a zoo volunteer that the animal “had accessed an area just outside of the new outdoor habitat,” the zoo posted on X around 9:45 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 29.At the time, the zoo said it was reviewing video footage to determine how Kembali managed to escape, noting that the outdoor habitat would be closed to the public until further notice.
The zoo also assured the public that, as an accredited member of the Association of Zoos & Aquariums (AZA), “these are situations we prepare for through regular drills,” referring to drills that deal with potential animal escapes.
The AZA is a U.S-based non-profit representing over 235 facilities in the United States and other countries. AZA accreditation means that the zoo or aquarium meets the “highest standards in animal care and welfare and provide a fun, safe, and educational family experience,” said the association on its website.
The zoo said in its Aug. 31 post that it is now consulting with international experts “to determine what modifications are required for the outdoor habitat to re-open in the coming weeks.”
It added that it is continuing its investigation and asked guests who took videos at the orangutan outdoor habitat on the evening of Aug. 29 to contact the zoo’s health and safety services supervisor Graham Birtles at [email protected].
