[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] The 29 stone silverback gorilla whose escape sent London Zoo into lockdown made an "opportunistic" exit through two unlocked doors into a corridor where a keeper was working, the zoo said.Professor David Field, the ZSL's zoological director, said Kumbuka was kept calm by the member of staff, with whom he
Armed police were called to the central London attraction and visitors were evacuated when the alarm was raised following the ape's bid for freedom on October 13.
The incursion into the zookeeper area culminated in Kumbuka glugging five litres of undiluted blackcurrant squash,
| ...not the vegetable, but an English fruit juice-based flavouring generally mixed with water or club soda.. |
Despite the animal's security breach, Professor Field said the whole affair was "less dramatic than some would have you believe".
He added: "I can certainly tell you that there were no broken locks, Kumbuka did not smash any windows, he was never 'on the loose', and his normal gorilla posturing reported by visitors earlier in the day was unrelated to the incident."