Two chimpanzees escape their enclosure in Taipei Zoo

2026-09-18

Two chimpanzees at Taipei Zoo escaped and wandered into the giraffe enclosure on Thursday evening, creating a chaotic scene. Taipei Zoo staff urgently evacuated visitors and spent nearly an hour capturing and safely returning the chimpanzees. An investigation revealed the escapade was due to a human error as the cage was not securely fastened. The zoo will enforce more employee training.

In the giraffe enclosure, a dark shape has appeared on a pillar. Take a closer look. It’s a chimpanzee! How did it get there?

The chimpanzee climbed to an elevated point, started howling and swinging his body.

Visitors witnessed an unexpected guest appear, which frightened even the giraffes causing them to run around. Staff members hurriedly chased after them.

Two male chimpanzees, 44 year-old named “Hsiao Chiang” and 11 year-old “Wa Chih” escaped from their enclosure at Taipei Zoo around 4pm. The zoo immediately evacuated visitors and launched an “apehunt.” Within an hour, they managed to tranquilize and capture the escaped chimps. They found Wa Chih at the giraffe enclosure, while Hsiao Chiang ran to the female chimpanzee enclosure and looked out from a high post.

Tsao Hsien-shao
Taipei Zoo spokesperson
We will have two to three layer mechanisms, during maintenance the door locks were not tightened, we took shortcuts and didn’t secure the locks after the work was done. We need to seriously review this internally and classify this as a human error.

Cheng Chiu-hung
Director of Veterinary Department
During the initial examination of the two chimpanzees, there were no issues with their blood tests. Therefore, the preliminary assessment is that there is nothing concerning.

In the last four months, Taipei Zoo has experienced three animal escape incidents, from baby anteaters, spider monkeys, to this “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” incident. Although all of the animals were brought back safely, the zoo says it’s examining its procedures to identify any oversights and prevent further escapes.

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北市動物園2隻黑猩猩脫逃 1隻闖長頸鹿區.1隻去看母猩猩

2026-09-18

台北市立動物園驚傳黑猩猩脫逃！兩隻雄性黑猩猩「小強」和「娃智」，17號傍晚突然跑出原本活動場，甚至闖進長頸鹿區、爬上高柱，園方緊急疏散遊客，花了將近一小時才將牠們帶回。園方調查後，發現是人為疏失，沒有把小鳥扣扣緊，將會加強員工訓練。

長頸鹿活動區，柱子上突然多了黑黑的一團，鏡頭拉近一看不得了，竟然是隻黑猩猩，他怎麼會出現在這?

黑猩猩待在高處，不斷發出吼叫，身體來回擺動。

遊客目擊不速之客現身，甚至還把長頸鹿嚇的跑來跑去，工作人員急忙追猩。

台北市立動物園17號兩隻雄性黑猩猩，44歲小強及11歲娃智，傍晚4點多雙雙脫逃，園方緊急疏散遊客展開追捕行動，一小時內，總算把兩隻逃犯通通麻醉帶回，其中娃智一路跑到長頸鹿活動區，至於小強則是跑到母猩猩活動區，從高處眺望。

[[台北市立動物園發言人曹先紹]]
“我們會有2到3層的一個機制，我們門栓也是因為在維修的時候便宜行事，沒有在工作完畢以後把它栓上，同時上鎖，要認真檢討這些歸類為人為疏失”

[[獸醫室主任鄭秋虹]]
“那初步的檢查這兩隻個體，包括娃智跟小強，牠們的血液檢查，都是沒有問題的，那初步判斷是不需要太過的擔心”

短短四個月，北市動物園已經發生三起動物脫逃事件，從小食蟻獸、蜘蛛猴，再到這回"猩球崛起"，雖然最後通通平安帶回，但動物接連跑出活動區，到底是哪個環節出了問題，園方恐怕得，好好檢視。

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