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Curiosity Blamed In Orangutan Escape

Tribune file photo by CLIFF McBride

Busch Gardens' Jungala exhibit is home to several wild animals, including orangutans.

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By JAMIE PILARCZYK

The Tampa Tribune

Published: May 19, 2008

By KEITH MORELLI

The Tampa Tribune

TAMPA Luna Bella is like most 10-year-old kids: Curious to the point of getting into trouble.

And that's likely what happened when the 85-pound orangutan hopped out of her enclosure at Busch Gardens' new Jungala exhibit Saturday, according to an orangutan expert familiar with the incident.

"Basically, they are very intelligent and curious," said Richard Zimmerman, director of Orangutan Outreach in New York. "It's more that they are curious; if they see an opportunity, they'll go for it.

"If they see a hole in the fence, if the opportunity is there, they will take it. Generally, they don't do much. They just go to the other side of the fence or wall and just stay there."

Zimmerman is familiar with Luna Bella. He said she was born in the Houston Zoo to an orangutan named Kelly, who was inattentive. So Luna Bella was placed with Cheyenne, a surrogate mother.

But Luna Bella became accustomed to being cared for by humans, and that exposure probably had an influence, he said.

"I think that in this particular incident with Luna Bella," Zimmerman said, "she had exposure to humans at an early age so she got a jump start on intelligence."

The orangutan was coaxed into her night quarters by keepers almost immediately, and no spectators were injured.

"They generally are peaceful, so there is hardly ever a fear of them being violent," Zimmerman said.

Luna Bella, a Bornean orangutan, scaled the exhibit's 12-foot barrier. Within an hour, she was safe and sound in her quarters, park officials said. She remained calm throughout the incident, officials said.

It was the second primate escape in the Tampa Bay area in a month. The first was at Polk County's fledgling Safari Wild preserve in April. That's when 15 patas monkeys swam a moat and scaled a wall to gain their freedom.

Thirteen of those monkeys remain in the wilds of northern Polk County.

Investigators with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were expected to visit Busch Gardens this week to find out what happened, agency spokesman Gary Morse said today .

Park officials say it was not a case of human error.

Jungala is open, but the part of the exhibit where the escape occurred is empty, said Glenn Young, vice president of zoological operations at Busch Gardens. Orangutans still are part of the experience, but on the other side of the exhibit, he said.

Park officials are examining the structure to see what changes need to be made to keep an orangutan escape from happening again, Young said.

Luna Bella, who has been at Busch Gardens for more than three years, was able to figure it out.

She was on a platform near a viewing window and simply grabbed the outside edge of the window and swung herself up onto the corner of the building.

"It was a surprise, yes," Young said. "And there she sat on the roof. She looked like she wanted to come down, to get back into the habitat but didn't know how to navigate that."

She is used to her handlers and came when they called to her. She was led back to her night quarters without incident, Young said. "She went in there, and we closed the doors," he said.

"The relationship our staff has with all of our animals and this animal is extremely impressive," Young said. "There is a strong bond between our caretakers and Luna Bella, and that was instrumental. These are very intelligent animals. They are great, beautiful, magnificent animals that are interesting to watch. And they're in peril in their natural habitat."

Jungala, a 4-acre attraction set in the Congo area of the park, opened in April and features an up-close experience with exotic animals.

Park officials called the exhibit the "most ambitious park enhancement project to date."

Zimmerman said the wild orangutan populations are centered mostly in Borneo and Sumatra and are threatened because of encroachment of humans into their habitat.

"Some of the populations will be extinct within three years," Zimmerman said. "They are incredibly threatened."

He blamed palm oil, a much-sought-after ingredient that goes into food, soap and now biofuel, he said. Rain forests are being burned to make room for palm tree plantations to produce the oil.

The orangutans live in the rain forests of Indonesia and Malaysia, he said.

Orangutans in the zoos mostly these days are born in captivity. "No one brings them out of the jungles anymore to sell to the zoos," Zimmerman said.

Captive breeding programs are being conducted around the world in hopes of someday repopulating the wild with them and saving the species.

Reporter Keith Morelli can be reached at (813) 259-7760 or kmorelli@tampatrib.com.

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