S'PORE ZOO TRAGEDY - Star chimp dies in escape bid

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S'PORE ZOO TRAGEDY

 

Star chimp dies in escape bid

 

 

 

Celebrity chimp climbs over electric barriers and is shot with a tranquilliser

dart gun. But she runs straight into a reservoir.

 

 

 

After the bustling crowds of the weekend, it was quiet at the zoo on Monday

morning.

 

 

 

But all was not well in the chimpanzee enclosure.

 

 

 

For some reason, 6-year-old Rhamba was agitated.

 

 

 

It was possible she was being bullied or chased by the other 12 chimps in her

enclosure.

 

 

 

She was upset enough to climb over the electric barriers on a tree.

 

 

 

She was zapped with electricity at least once but this was not enough to stop

her fleeing her " home " .

 

 

 

A zoo worker saw her escape and alerted others who rushed to the scene.

 

 

 

One of them, probably a vet, fired a tranquilliser dart at Rhamba.

 

 

 

The dart hit the primate on her stomach but it did no stop her in her tracks

immediately.

 

 

 

Her instincts told her to run, so she did.

 

 

 

Zookeepers dashed after her but they wee no match for Rhamba - a chimpanzee can

run much faster than a human.

 

 

 

She ran through two animal exhibits, straight into the Mandai reservoir.

 

 

 

And she drowned there before the zookeepers could get to her.

 

 

 

This is the first time in recent years that a chimp escape has been reported at

the zoo.

 

 

 

Back in 1997, a zoo chimp scratched a visitor on a Saturday evening when it was

on the lose for 10 minutes.

 

 

 

Staff had to disperse 1,000 visitors for safety reasons.

 

 

 

Rhamba was a celebrity of sorts in the zoo. Like Ah Meng, she had been one of

the zoo's photo-taking chimps.

 

 

 

Born in July 1997, she was separated from her mother at birth and raised by

humans.

 

 

 

After being trained to pose with visitors, she was kept in a cage so she could

be produced easily for photography.

 

 

 

In 2001, she was returned to the chimp enclosure, which is about the size of a

basketball court. There, she was reunited with her mother.

 

 

 

When The New Paper interviewed some frequent zoo visitors, some wondered whether

the workers could have tried other ways of catching her, such as with nets.

 

 

 

Ms Alison Ng, 30, a zoo volunteer for four years, said: " I know it's SOP

(standard operating procedure) to tranquillise but I would think it applied more

to big animals like tigers and elephants.

 

 

 

" Since this chimp is quite used to human contact, maybe they could have got a

keeper to try and calm it down first. If they did, but it started being

aggressive, then it's another story. "

 

 

 

Ironically, Rhamba's death happened on the day The Straits Times published a

report on the zoo's new general curator, Dr Ken Gold, a primate expert. He

started work on Mar 15.

 

 

 

When contacted, Dr Gold, who has worked with captive chimpanzees, gorillas, and

orang utans for many years, said in a written reply: " Standard operating

procedures to safeguard visitors and animals necessitated the tranquillisation

of the chimpanzee. "

 

 

 

Dr Shirley MrGreal, who founded the International Primate Protection League

(IPPL) in 1973, said the zoo was correct to try to tranquillise Rhamba.

 

 

 

" But it was most unfortunate that the chimp reached a location near water.

Chimpanzees cannot swim, " she said.

 

 

 

The Singapore Zoo declined to say how many visitors were nearby when Rhamba

escaped.

 

 

 

Could Rhamba have been coaxed back into the enclosure?

 

 

 

After all, as a " photo chimp " , she was used to human contact.

 

 

 

For a while in 2001, she was even ferried around by her keeper on a bicycle.

 

 

 

The zoo said it was investigating " all of the events surrounding the escape and

recapture attempt to determine the contributing factors leading to this isolated

incident " .

 

 

 

Dr Gold said: " The zoo has exhibited chimpanzees for 32 years in natural social

groups and has had 29 successful births. Such incidents are rare and we are very

sad over the tragic outcome. "

 

 

 

Modifications have been made to the exhibit to prevent such an incident from

happening again, he added, without elaborating.

 

 

 

Animal welfare activist Louis Ng had got to know the chimpanzee when he was a

volunteer in 2000.

 

 

 

He launched his first campaign to pressure the zoo to stop photo-taking with the

chimps, claiming that he saw Rhamba being punched in the face to make her

behave.

 

 

 

He went on to set up the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society.

 

 

 

Responding to Rhamba's death, Mr Ng said: " To say that I am devastated is an

understatement.

 

 

 

" I remember the times she would come and hug me, seeking comfort when times were

hard.

 

 

 

" I would not be fighting for the rights of animals if not for her. "