Baboons Use Barrel To Escape Texas Research Facility

A group of four baboons managed to escape their open-air enclosure at the Southwest National Primate Research Center in Texas. The primates were on the run for about 30 minutes before a highly trained team re-captured them. 

Officials said the baboons were playing in their six-acre open-air pen when they moved a 55-gallon barrel near a wall. Once the barrel was in the place, one of the baboons jumped on top and then lept over the wall. Three other baboons followed their leader and made a run for the nearby neighborhood. 

The research center's recovery team managed to find three of the baboons within 30 minutes, but they were unable to find the fourth. Eventually, they realized the fourth baboon never left the property. It jumped the wall, then decided to go back to the enclosure.

Veterinarian Dr. John Bernal praised the recovery team for their swift actions. 

"The capture team was phenomenal,” Dr. Bernal says. “They do a great job. They do what they're trained for. They moved very swiftly."

There are 1,100 baboons and over 2,500 animals at the research facility. Lisa Cruz, Assistant Vice President for Communications said that the escape was a "unique incident."

"This was truly a unique incident," said Lisa Cruz, Assistant Vice President for Communications. "We have been caring for research baboons for more than 50 years. We have nearly 1100 baboons on the property that date back eight generations."

Dr. Bernal said the baboons are "key to those advances in biomedical research."

"Baboons are critical to metabolic research, cardiovascular research, neurological research, vaccine studies. I mean, they're really key to those advances in biomedical research."


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