An orangutan escaped its enclosure at Busch Gardens Tampa Bay on Friday and went on the loose, forcing some of the theme park's visitors to evacuate before the animal was recaptured the same day.
The runaway ape was taken into custody after briefly escaping into the trees of the sprawling Busch Gardens complex.
Earlier on Friday, onlookers tweeted photos and video of the great ape as it paused in a tree on the grounds:
While other visitors were ape-parently locked in the food court as a safety precaution:
Some reported being evacuated from the park:
This was the second time in recent weeks that an orangutan has escaped its enclosure in the park, Bay News 9 reported. The first escape came on June 16; no one (including the orangutan) was injured in the incident.
Busch Gardens Tampa Bay confirmed the orangutan's escape in a statement to The Huffington Post on Friday:
This afternoon, Busch Gardens Tampa Bay moved guests safely out of the Stanleyville area of the park when a female orangutan was outside her habitat. The animal care team responded immediately and the animal is back safely and securely in the habitat without incident. The safety of our guests, employees and animals is our number one priority.
This article has been updated with comments from Busch Gardens Tampa Bay.
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