ST. PAUL, Minn. – Three gorillas left their enclosure Thursday morning forcing Como Zoo to go on a brief lockdown.
In a statement, Como Zoo officials said at 9:50 a.m. Thursday morning, "the bachelor group of three gorillas had left their indoor enclosure through an unsecured door behind the scenes of the indoor gorillas habitat."
The statement goes on to say the gorillas were always within gorilla proof barriers. All gorillas were secured back in their habitat in less than an hour.
Several people posted pictures on Twitter like this one from Chelsea Gould saying they were "locked" in the pavilion area during the time the gorilla was out of its enclosure.
Mark Westpfahl tweeted a photo of the gorilla exhibit after everything was secure. Because there are multiple gorillas housed at the zoo, Mark is not certain the picture below is of the one that left the enclosure.
Zoo officials say no time was the public, staff or animals were in danger. Officials will be speaking at 12:30 p.m. about the incident. We have a crew at the zoo and will bring you other details as they are released.
