Baboons on loose after escaping medical research facility
Primates broke free from vehicle during transfer
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A runaway baboon “and his two wives” have been recaptured by police in Sydney after the trio escaped while being transported to a medical research facility.
“This is not a Mandrill”, police posting on Twitter joked, after concerned members of the public called the emergency services after spotting the fugitive primates in the grounds of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown.
The three baboons apparently engineered their escape from a van while they were being transported on Tuesday.
The male baboon was due to undergo a vasectomy, and the two females “considered his wives”, according to local journalists, had been brought along to help keep him calm during the transportation and procedure.
NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard told AAP there had been a lock failure either on the truck or on the crate in which a 15-year-old male and two females were being transported, and they had seized their chance for freedom.
“The three baboons decided to take a bit of a look around RPA grounds,” he said.
“They didn’t know what to do nor did the people around them.”
Mr Hazzard said the baboons were not being transported for research purposes and the male was at the facility for a vasectomy, Australia’s 7News reports.
“If he had been kept fertile he would have had to (have) moved from the family he knows,” Mr Hazzard added.
NSW Police said there was no immediate danger to the public but that people were advised to avoid the area.
The baboons are expected to be awake and well in a few hours, Mr Hazzard said.
He said baboons form part of research programmes which cover a range of health issues but when they are finished with the programme, they are always returned to their colonies.
Former GP and animal activist Kevin Coleman told AAP the primates’ escape was a “major concern” which could raise biosecurity issues.
“If an animal the size of a baboon can escape, how many mice have escaped, how many other animals have escaped?” he said.
Dr Coleman is apparently a spokesperson for Sydney Save Animals in Laboratories and told the news agency he believed experts were undertaking research into human-baboon hybrid organs to address the transplant crisis.
When asked if the baboons were there for the creation of “human-baboon hybrid organs”, Mr Hazzard said it was “rubbish”.
“These baboons were simply there for the old vasectomy,” he said.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments