Animal

Sydney baboon escape: police confirm three animals recaptured at Royal Prince Alfred hospital


Three baboons have been recaptured after they were spotted on the loose at a major Sydney hospital, triggering a police response and a flurry of interest online.

Police told Guardian Australia on Tuesday evening that they were attending “an incident of that nature” when asked if reports of baboons on the loose were true.

Callers to Sydney talkback radio station 2GB were first to report that they’d seen apes running loose in the area.

A caller told presenter Ben Fordham that he’d seen three baboons.

“Mate I’m deadset serious, I’m at RPA, I’m six floors up and I was just having a gaze out at the carpark… and there were three baboons in the carpark,” he said. “I’m deadset serious. They even had shiny red bottoms.”

Another caller said her daughter and her colleagues had been chasing the animals.

“My daughter is an occupational therapist at RPA and she said ‘yes mum, I’ve just helped wrangle them’,” the caller said.

New South Wales police confirmed on Tuesday evening that they had recaptured the animals.

“Just after 5:30pm officers from Inner West Police Area Command were called to a car park on Missiden Road and Lucas St Camperdown, after reports three baboons escaped while being transported,” a NSW police spokesperson said.

“They are currently contained and police are working with experts to safely return them to their facility.

“There is no immediate danger to the public but people are advised to avoid the area,” she said.

A spokesperson from the University of Sydney told Guardian Australia that they were looking into the incident.

The baboons join a long tradition of animals breaking loose from captivity and embracing the freedom of the big city.

They include two water buffalo, which escaped from a movie set in Newtown, Sydney, and chased pedestrians down King Street; two llamas chased by police through the streets of Sun City, Arizona in 2015; and three lions that escaped from a circus on Mindil beach, Darwin, and caused all kinds of havoc before they were caught – including gatecrashing a wedding in the botanical gardens.



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