Gibbon briefly escapes enclosure at British zoo

May 7 (UPI) — A British zoo said members of the public were not in any danger when a gibbon briefly escaped from its enclosure, prompting a lockdown.

The Twycross Zoo confirmed a Siamese gibbon escaped from its enclosure shortly after the facility opened Saturday morning and guests were ushered to indoor areas while the zoo was put into lockdown.

Zoo officials said the gibbon entered an area outside of its enclosure, but the area was not open to the public. They said visitors were never in danger from the escaped primate.

“As a precaution, and as part of our standard procedure, we temporarily closed the zoo this morning due to one of our gibbons being in an area he shouldn’t be,” zoo Chief Executive Sharon Redrobe said in a statement.

“Our animal team were in control of the situation at all times and at no time were any visitors, animals or team members in any danger,” she said. “The zoo reopened within 20 minutes and we are now back to normal operation with our guests continuing to enjoy the sunny bank holiday weekend with us.”