Update:
A monkey is safe three days after she escaped a primate sanctuary by opening a closed door.
Carli, a 15-year-old brown capuchin, was found in a tree three miles down the street from the Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary at 10:15 a.m., said office manager Debbie Muga.
Ken Holmes, a Florida Fish and Wildlife inspector, shot her with a dart of ketamine to knock her unconscious. Carli then fell safely into a sheet carried by four people. Carli is now back at the sanctuary and reunited with her mate, Andi, where they’re back to their normal grooming sessions.
“She’s back home and she’s doing fine,” Debbie Muga said.
Carli was reported missing after she had found her way through a breach in the sanctuary’s caged runways that connect each caged habitat. This is the first time an animal has escaped from the sanctuary.
Original story:
Doors couldn’t keep Carli, a 15-year-old capuchin monkey, from escaping a primate sanctuary Sunday morning.
Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary, at 13915 N. State Road 121, is offering $1,000 to anyone who reports seeing Carli and helps capture her, said manager Debbie Muga.
Carli snuck out of a metal, cage-like tube that connects different primate enclosures in the sanctuary, Muga said.
A staff member was able to lure Carli into a trailer with a treat, Muga said. But the monkey opened the trailer door and ran out.
“She was out of there as quickly as she was in,” Muga said.
The monkey has eluded staff and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission since she escaped from the sanctuary, Muga said. Carli is a helper monkey. She is trained to do tasks like open doors and flip light switches to help a disabled person.
This is the first time an animal has escaped from the sanctuary since it opened 20 years ago, Muga said.
Carli was last seen near State Road 121 on 128th Lane, less than a mile away from the sanctuary. Jungle Friends received a photo of her around 11:30 a.m. Sunday, Muga said.
Staff from Jungle Friends and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission are trying to find her and lure her with treats, Muga said.
The sanctuary hasn’t filed a report with the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office to help with the search, said spokesperson Lt. Brett Rhodenizer.
“We’re just worried that she’ll wander into somewhere that she isn’t welcome, and she won’t understand why she isn’t welcome,” Muga said.
Contact Jessica Curbelo at jcurbelo@alligator.org and follow her on Twitter at @jesscurbelo
Carli, a 15-year-old Capuchin monkey
