From the Times-Picayune:
Using only a stretched green T-shirt and powerful upper-body strength, a Sumatran orangutan named Berani escaped from his Audubon Zoo enclosure Friday -- for about 10 minutes.
Employing a level of cunning that could have come from a prison movie, the brownish-orange primate stretched the shirt, scaled a 10 1/2-foot wall to the top of the moat, wrapped the shirt around the "hot" electrical wires surrounding the exhibit and swung out about 12:45 p.m., zoo spokeswoman Sarah Burnette said.
That's Berani the Coy in the picture. He's a clever one, isn't he? If he could talk, we'd know just how clever.
The sight of a primate mixing on the grounds with zoo patrons did cause a mild stir.
"There was a group of people standing there," Burnette said, "and they kind of pointed, and there was Berani, standing in the middle of the boardwalk. He kind of lingered there for no more than 10 minutes and catapulted himself back into his exhibit."
The zoo staff gave the orangutans t-shirts to play with every day, but now, no more t-shirts! Berani escaped from his enclosure, and then he got back in. T-shirts or not, he may repeat the the exercise. What now? A higher fence? I think there's a message here.
There's a British army/rugby/schoolboy song called "We're off to see the Wild West Show", which alternates a chorus that begins with this line, with off-color jokes about the people and animals in the show. Among the animals is the orangutan:
ReplyDeleteThe orangutan has one b-ll made of brass and the other made of steel. As he swings through the trees they clash together and go "Orang-a-Tang, Orang-a-Tang"!
"The sight of a primate mixing on the grounds with zoo patrons did cause a mild stir"
ReplyDeleteMostly our Primates seem to mix only with other Primates -- but then, few of them are as bright as Berani.
Lapin, what about climbing fences? Do the brass and steel thingies produce a different sound?
ReplyDeleteSusanKay, Berani is timely in his escape, no? Too bad no one thought to run for ecclesiastical fancy dress.
You're supposed to say "Orang-a-Tang" as though two metal objects are clanging against one another.
ReplyDeleteMy father was the first person to tell this joke to me.
Lapin, so whenever I hear metal against metal, I say "Orang-a-Tang"! How English and how fun! I'll have to remember that when I'm "over there", if I chance to hear the metal against metal sound.
ReplyDeleteThat is one smart primate!
ReplyDeleteCould Berani but share some of his smartness with other primates.
ReplyDeleteI LOVE orangutans. When we lived on Sumatra, we visited the refuge there. They are very intelligent and my husband tells me that there is a family resemblance.
ReplyDeleteGreat story Lapin, I'll have to remember that.
Not being Episcopalian, every time you all mention Primates all I think of is orangs and chimps.
Sara, how blessed you are in this last regard.
ReplyDeleteSara, seeing the orangutans must have been awesome.
ReplyDeleteI assure you that Episcopalians think of orangs and chimps, too, when they hear primates, but, unfortunately it doesn't end there, as Paul notes. They are our leaders.
Mostly our Primates seem to mix only with other Primates -- but then, few of them are as bright as Berani.
ReplyDelete{snort!}
++KJS excepted, of course.
The sight of a primate mixing on the grounds with zoo patrons did cause a mild stir.
ReplyDeleteThe sight of a normally captive primate mixing on the grounds with the normally free zoo patron primates did cause a mild stir.
Sort of a reverse El Planeta de los Simios.
Si, Dahveed, una reversa d'El Planeta de los Simios - como se dice en los Estados Unidos de Mejico.
ReplyDeleteI hope that I didn't butcher the Spanish too much. I try.
Los Estados Unidos Mexicanos
ReplyDeleteWell, I knew that I wouldn't get everything right, but I'm sorry that it was the name of your country that I got wrong, Dahveed.
ReplyDelete