Quick Take
- The escape method was shockingly low-tech, which raises an uncomfortable question about how this was allowed to happen in the first place. See how she escaped →
- Going viral on telephone wires wasn't even the most dramatic moment of this monkey's days on the loose. See what happened next →
- This escape fits a pattern at this zoo that goes well beyond one runaway monkey. Read the USDA findings →
- Forty-three monkeys once escaped from a single facility in the Carolinas, and it took months to find them all. Read about the mass escape →
Monkey see, monkey do, but sometimes monkey says, “It’s time to go, I’m over this zoo.” That seems to be what happened last week when a monkey escaped from a North Carolina zoo. It made a daring escape and was seen by numerous people wandering around the county in which the zoo is located. There was even a news clip that went viral of a monkey walking on a telephone line. The runaway monkey, however, was hit by a car.
Monkeys of any kind are incredibly smart creatures, capable of problem-solving and even using rudimentary tools. It’s no wonder that this monkey in North Carolina was able to make a daring escape. It even managed to remain free from capture for several days before its unfortunate accident. Let’s learn more about this monkey’s daring escape, what it got up to during its several days on the lam, and other unique monkey escape stories from the Carolinas in the past few years.
The Great Escape
Workers at Zootastic Park in Troutman, North Carolina, noticed a female capuchin monkey missing from her enclosure.
©cosma/Shutterstock.com
It was a normal day at Zootastic Park in Troutman, North Carolina. Then everything went bananas. Employees at the family-owned zoo noticed something was wrong with the monkey area. Upon closer inspection, they realized that a 5-year-old female capuchin monkey was missing. Somehow, she had managed to pull her wire bars far enough apart that she was able to squeeze through them and escape. From there, things intensified.
Alarm Bells
Iredell County Animal Services issued a warning about the escaped monkey on its Facebook page less than an hour later.
©guentermanaus/Shutterstock.com
Less than an hour later, Iredell County Animal Services (where Zootastic Park is located) issued a public notice on its Facebook Page. It broadcast awareness of a Capuchin monkey on the loose in the Troutman area of Iredell County. It said that they were actively working with the Zootastic Park employees to ensure that the animal was captured safely. Iredell County Animal Services also warned residents to keep their distance from the runaway monkey. The Facebook post said, “Do NOT attempt to capture, chase, or interact with the monkey,” and provided contact information in case anyone spotted the creature.
Monkey Spotted
That afternoon, someone spotted the monkey climbing a telephone pole in the Troutman area.
©YouTube/WBTVNews
It only took till about midday for someone to spot the monkey. The problem was that the monkey was seen on telephone wires, climbing across them, and sitting on a utility pole.
A local named Billy Hickman shared a video of exactly that with WBTV News in Charlotte, North Carolina. Near the end of the video, a red-tailed hawk can even be seen swooping in the background. It even came close to the undoubtedly frightened 5-year-old capuchin monkey. The shocking video quickly went viral. People viewed it 41,000 times and shared it several hundred times within 90 minutes of its upload. According to employees from Zootastic Park, however, by the time they reached the telephone pole, the monkey was long gone.
Tragedy Strikes
Several days later, the monkey was hit by a car but survived. However, no update to the monkey’s condition has been publicized.
©jyurinko/Shutterstock.com
There was no sign of the monkey for the next several days. On Tuesday, September 23, however, the monkey resurfaced. Tragically, however, the monkey was struck by a vehicle in the Troutman area. When officers arrived on the scene, the monkey was still alive. Authorities responded quickly. They ensured the capuchin’s safety and rushed her to her owner. Despite several phone calls to Zootastic Park by A-Z Animals, the park could not provide any update on the monkey’s condition after the car accident.
PETA Responds
©Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock.com
As with any questionable incident involving an animal in the United States, PETA got involved. The People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals issued a statement about the monkey that escaped from Zootastic Park. According to the organization’s website, “PETA urges everyone to stay away from this shoddy roadside zoo and is filing a complaint urging federal authorities to investigate, ensure that the monkey is treated for any injuries he may have sustained, and hold Zootastic accountable for its utter failure to protect this frightened animal.”
It issued other bombastic, inflammatory statements about the park, alleging improper and unsanitary conditions. While PETA is known for making controversial, media-grabbing statements, there are other escape incidents involving the zoo.
A Running Theme
Last year, a Troutman resident found a dead deer in their yard that belonged to Zootastic Park.
©Giedriius/Shutterstock.com
A monkey escaping from a zoo is a striking story. However, this isn’t the first time an animal has escaped from Zootastic Park in Troutman, North Carolina. Last June, the organization came under fire after a neighbor to Zootastic Park found a dead deer on their property. According to a story published in the summer of 2024, in late June, Scotty Hedrick found a dead deer in his grandmother’s backyard near Troutman. When he called the county to deal with it, an employee from Zootastic Park arrived instead.
Accidents Happen
The resident and her grandson said that Zootastic workers promptly removed the deer from the yard.
©Dibyendu Nayek/Shutterstock.com
As Hedrick told WSOC-TV Channel 9, “He comes back here and says that’s ours. That’s the fallow deer that got loose the other day, and we darted it, and it ran off, and we couldn’t find it.” The worker then brought equipment from the park to remove the deer from his grandmother’s yard, which is about half a mile from Zootastic Park.
When pressed by reporters about the incident, park owner Scotty Brown said, “We did not dart a deer. We did have a deer that escaped during a storm when a tree fell on our fence. We tried to dart it for two or three days, and then a neighbor found a dead deer with a broken leg that looked like it was hit by a car.”
Curious Cases
While the park has been cited for several infractions over the years, the park’s owner claims there is more to the story.
©YouTube/Kayak7seas
These incidents have caused some residents in the area to question the conditions of Zootastic Park. Indeed, there have been several documented incidents in the past that put the park’s conditions under scrutiny. According to WBTV, a 2022 inspection of the park by United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials resulted in several infractions, including suspected black mold, lack of documentation regarding medications and animal purchases, and two monkeys with frostbite injuries. These infractions resulted in several incendiary comments from PETA.
The owner of Zootastic Park, Scottie Brown, however, says there is more to the story. “We’ve got about a thousand head of animals here and we’re inspected more than any other zoo in the United States,” Brown said. “They want to find problems, and I hate to say it like that, but they’re not coming here not to find a problem. In 14 years, I think we’ve had about 14 infractions, but we’ve been inspected, I don’t know how many times, and not had any, nobody cares about that; they just want to hear about the bad things.”
Carolina Monkeys
Last year, 43 monkeys escaped from a research facility in South Carolina.
©Simon Dannhauer/Shutterstock.com
This single monkey escape pales in comparison to another incident in 2024 in the region, when dozens of monkeys escaped. On November 6, 2024, 43 monkeys escaped from an Alpha Genesis facility in Yemassee, South Carolina, after a caretaker failed to latch the double doors that led to their enclosure. The company, which breeds several monkey species for research purposes, used traps with fresh fruit and infrared cameras to capture the escaped monkeys. Officials also warned area residents to lock their doors and windows, and to call 911 if they happened to spot any of the escaped monkeys.
It took several months, however, for all 43 monkeys to be safely recaptured. PETA also had something to say about this incident and the ethical nature of breeding monkeys for research purposes. A USDA investigation, however, found the escape did not constitute a critical violation of its rules.
