When Kumbuka the Silverback managed to take advantage of an open door to make a bid for freedom from the confines of London Zoo’s gorilla enclosure, many feared that ZSL would have a full-scale Planet of the Apes-style scenario on their hands.
Now, new details have emerged of what happened after the 29st mischievous monkey got into the staff area of the zoo. In a slightly less bombastic turn of events than much of the press were reporting, it turns out Kumbuka drank five litres of undiluted blackcurrant squash before being calmed by a member of staff and finally, safely tranquilised.
“I can certainly tell you that there were no broken locks,” said the ZSL’s zoological director, Prof. David Field. “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.”
Field went on to add that the whole thing was “less dramatic than some would have you believe,” – and these new revelations of squash-stealing support the idea that Kumbuka’s crafty escape ended with a very full bladder and the mother of all sugar crashes.
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