Officials of the Arignar Anna Zoological Park (AAZP), Vandalur are continuing their efforts to capture two common langurs that escaped from an enclosure on February 14.
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The two monkeys, which were recently brought to AAZP along with eight more langurs from Kanpur Zoological Park, slipped out of the enclosure located in the transit area meant for quarantine of the newly-brought animals. AAZP authorities said, the incident happened when an animal keeper entered the enclosure for cleaning and without moving the animals into a cage, as it is typically done.
As of February 16 evening, one of the monkeys was spotted in Urapakkam and the other in Mannivakkam, said Manikandan Prabhu, Assistant Director, AAZP. Trap cages have been set for the arboreal animals, which have settled high up on trees. “This is proving difficult to capture,” said Mr. Prabhu. Two teams are monitoring the monkeys and will continue their efforts after daybreak on February 17.
In addition to the langurs, a pair of Egyptian vultures, three Himalayan griffons, and five mottled wood owls were received from the zoo in Uttar Pradesh on January 28. The langurs and birds were to be kept in quarantine for 21 days, as per guidelines, before being moved to enclosures.