Panic after silverback gorilla escapes enclosure at London Zoo

A gorilla was recaptured this evening after it escaped its enclosure at London Zoo, causing the attraction to go into lockdown.

The male silverback, Kumbuka, escaped its enclosure earlier this afternoon, with visitors kept in the zoo’s cafe while the incident was dealt with.

The gorilla was eventually recaptured after being subdued with a tranquiliser dart, the zoo later confirmed.

The Met Police said its officers also attended the incident to support London Zoo staff but were later stood down.

An Air Support Unit also provided cover and used a heat-seeking camera to help locate the animal.

One member of the public claimed the animal ‘threw himself at the window’ before escaping.

Eyewitness Brad Evans, who has been allowed to leave the zoo, told BBC Radio London: ‘We were in the zoo for the day, having a cup of coffee in the main restaurant area when they locked us all in and said there was an incident.

‘They gave us free teas and coffees and obviously we were asking what was going on and they told us that a gorilla had got out of its enclosure and that we weren’t allowed out of the park at half-five so we had to wait.

‘As we were waiting we saw the police turning up in numbers with loads of guns.’

Oliver Barker, 24, told the Mail Online that Kumbuka had seemed agitated earlier in the day.

He said: ‘He looked like he was in a sort of trance, he definitely wasn’t relaxed at all.

‘He looked very intimidating. The zookeeper came over and said, “don’t aggravate him by staring at him”’

According to the zoo’s website there are at least seven gorillas living in its Gorilla Kingdom. Among them is Kumbuka, a western lowland silverback, who has been at the zoo since 2013.

The incident comes just months after a gorilla called Harambe was shot dead at Cincinnati Zoo after it grabbed a child who had fallen into its enclosure

Malcolm Fitzpatrick, curator of mammals at the zoo, described the escape as a ‘minor incident’ in which the male gorilla got into a secure keeper area that was not open to the public.

#Gorilla on the loose? Huddling in a building at the #londonzoo after staff told us to get into a building quickly! pic.twitter.com/BBbFvBLTn6
— Dr. Jonathan T. Mall (@CognitiveTwo) October 13, 2016

@SkyNewsBreak lock in at London Zoo – Gorilla on the loose? pic.twitter.com/X9ukqgrI9o
— hannah (@hannahod) October 13, 2016

He said the gorilla lowland was tranquillised before being returned to the Gorilla Kingdom, where he was .up and grumbling and interacting with the rest of his gorilla family’.

He added: ‘It was a safe, secure keeper area, so at no time did he actually get out into the zoo.’

The incident is now under investigation, he said.

Mr Fitzpatrick told reporters Kumbuka was in the keepers’ area for more than an hour until vets were able to tranquillise him.

He said: ‘At 5.15pm this afternoon our male gorilla got out of his back dens into a secure keeper area.

‘Our staff were able to respond quickly and Kumbuka was tranquillised and returned to his dens, where I am happy to report he is up and grumbling and interacting with the rest of his gorilla family in Gorilla Kingdom.’

He added: ‘At no time were any of our visitors in any danger.

‘The gorilla did not get out of the safe space, there were only about 100 visitors, it was the end of the day and I would like to thank all of those visitors for co-operating and moving in to buildings.’

London Zoo will be open tomorrow.