The Ingenious Orangutan
“A sharp-witted orangutan escaped from a zoo enclosure today by short-circuiting electric wires on a fence and then building a makeshift ladder. But before the ingenious female ape, Karta, could continue with her brilliant escape plan she saw keepers standing by with tranquiliser guns, realised the game was up and jumped back into her enclosure. ‘We’re looking here at an animal that is extremely intelligent,’ said Mr Peter Whitehead, curator of Adelaide Zoo in South Australia. The 10-stone orangutan used a stick to twist together electric wires circling her enclosure, resulting in the power supply – which would have given her a jolt if she’d touched the live wires – being cut off. She clambered through the fencing and entered a bushy area near a glass and concrete fence that separated her from the public. But that barrier did not deter her. After examining the height of the fence, she began piling sticks, grass and plant roots and used them as a ladder to climb onto the top of the fence.” w/ photos
