Kumbuka once sent the London Zoo into lockdown after breaking out of his cage. Armed police were called to the scene to help catch the silverback gorilla, but they never could have expected to find him in this position...
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An opportunistic exit
In a statement shared by zoo director David Field, we learnt that Kumbuka was called back to his den around 5 pm to enjoy his dinner. The door of his enclosure was not properly closed, which allowed the gorilla to escape without being noticed!
One might have feared that the animal would be slaughtered as was the case for Harambe, the gorilla of the Cincinnati Zoo, killed after a child entered his enclosure. Fortunately, Kumbuka was able to go back to his enclosure safe and sound after being found in a strange position.
The gorilla took advantage of his short escape to go to the staff area where a guard was staying. What did he get up to? Well, let's just say his first plan was far from what we'd expect from nature's most formidable primate.
A lucky find
The zoo's director revealed that Kumbuka and his caretaker shared a rather close bond and the gorilla often explored his caretaker's headquarters. And, that's exactly where searchers found the primate, in his caretaker's office...drinking five litres of undiluted blackcurrant squash. The director stated:
Staff raised the alarm that triggered our standard escape response, while Kumbuka briefly explored the zookeeper area next door to his den, where he opened and drank five litres of undiluted blackcurrant squash. Kumbuka was immediately contained in the non-public area by quick-thinking zookeepers responding to the alarm, where he was tranquilised and moved back into his den.
The zoo's director highlighted that the escape was a very rare occurrence and was not likely to happen again, and luckily they managed to get Kumbuka back to his enclosure safely...At least he had a good time!
Check out the video above to see Kumbuka for yourself!
