At least five monkeys are on the loose in Cincinnati after being spotted swinging from the trees in a graveyard in the Ohio city’s West Side neighborhood.
Local media reported that residents called the police in alarm after spotting the escaped monkeys late on Wednesday night. Video of the creatures also circulated on social media.
Police told the local Fox 19 Now television channel that the animals may have escaped from a private exotic animal collector’s home. Meanwhile, a Cincinnati Zoo spokeswoman, Michelle Curley, told the Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper that the facility would help in any way it could.
“We are evaluating the situation to see if there’s anything we can do to assist the Cincinnati police department. Nothing could be done in the dark,” Curley said.
The escaped monkeys are hardly the first or most dramatic such incident in Ohio’s history.
In 2011 large numbers of exotic animals escaped a preserve in Zanesville in the state. Local officials eventually gave up trying to capture most of them – which included tigers and bears – and opened fire.
In the end 49 animals were shot, including 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears, three mountain lions, two wolves and a baboon. The massacre sparked widespread outrage.
