Baboons used 55-gallon barrel to escape from San Antonio research facility, officials say

By Fares Sabawi, mySanAntonio.comApril 16, 2018 Updated: April 16, 2018 9:42pm

It wasn’t a barrel of monkeys working together on a rescue attempt a la “Toy Story,” but a barrel was the key to four baboons’ escape this weekend. ... The animal care team at Texas Biomedical Research Institute has figured out that the baboons who briefly escaped this weekend had rolled a 55-gallon barrel so that it was standing upright near a wall in their open-air enclosure and then used it to climb up and over the wall.

The barrel was put in the enclosure as an enrichment tool to help the baboons mimic foraging behavior, according to a news release from the facility released Monday. But after the baboons’ creative use of it, the staff has removed all of the barrels from the enclosure.

The open-air enclosure, which has been in use for more than 35 years, has walls that fold inward to stop the baboons from jumping out. The barrels had been found to be a “valuable component” by the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the most recent inspection, according to the release. But now officials are re-assessing the barrels, in part to determine whether modifications would prevent a repeat escape.

The four baboons weren’t out and about in the city’s far West Side for very long Saturday. ... Three of the baboons were recaptured within 30 minutes. Of those three, only one made it to the street, according to the news release. The animal care team was able to keep the other two in the “tree line.”