29st gorilla Kumbuka ATTACKS window at London Zoo seconds before smashing the glass and escaping - as visitors say it was 'like Jurassic Park'
- The gorilla escaped from his enclosure around 5.17pm according to police
- Visitors were ordered to safety and locked place in during the hunt
- The gorilla was on the loose for 90 minutes until it was shot with a dart
- One witness claimed the gorilla charged at a window before escaping
- London Zoo confirmed Kumbuka is awake and well following his escape
- A spokeswoman confirmed the zoo will reopen as normal in the morning
- Witnesses described today's incident as like a scene from Jurassic Park
- Did you witness today's incident at London Zoo? Please call Dave Burke on 0203 615 0523 or email david.burke@mailonline.co.uk
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This is the moment an angry gorilla began smashing his way out of his enclosure at London Zoo and escaped for more than 90 minutes.
The 7ft-tall 29 stone silverback called Kumbuka charged at the glass, where some 50 visitors were looking at him.
Eyewitnesses told MailOnline that they were warned not to look Kumbuka in the eye as it agitates him - minutes before he smashed his way out of his enclosure.
However, some of the visitors were shouting at Kumbuka and 'egging him on' in the seconds before he charged.
This is the moment Kumbuka attacked the glass in London Zoo today with 50 people watching
Witnesses said the gorilla launched himself at the glass as some visitors tried to wind him up
One eyewitness, Oliver Barker, 24, said a zoo keeper warned visitors against 'staring' at one of the male gorillas, believed to be Kumbuka, pictured, as this would 'aggravate him'
Heavily armed police raced to the zoo after they received reports of the escaped gorilla
Veterinary student Chloe Hughes was on her first visit to London Zoo when she filmed Kumbuka charge towards her.
The 23-year-old student from Surrey said: 'I was standing near the front. We were in there for a long time. The silverback was distressed. He was looking at everyone.
Staff asked everyone to be quiet. We were at the front and they asked us to get out. They came to the front with their arms out.
'He seemed to stare at one spot for a while. People were screaming and egging him on.
'Then he jumped onto the rope and smashed against the glass. It was very scary.
‘After that happened, we all screamed.'
She said there was panic after Kumbuka charged at the glass as people - including parents pushing prams.
'We heard the panic in the zoo keepers voice. They were shouting at us to get out.
'I don’t think I would go back to a zoo again. I’m not a big fan of zoos. I’ve heard a lot of good things about London Zoo, but it makes you think.'
Veterinary student Chloe Hughes, pictured here at the zoo before the escape, recorded the very moment Kumbuka charged the glass in his enclosure in his effort to get out
Mr Barker posted a photograph of Kumbuka shortly before this afternoon's dramatic escape
Officers armed with Heckler & Koch MP5s patrolled the zoo in an effort to find Kumbuka
It appeared like the armed officers were tasked to protect zoo keepers looking for the gorilla
Oliver Barker, 24, who was at the zoo for a marketing conference, told MailOnline that the gorilla had seemed ‘agitated’ earlier in the day, and keepers had warned visitors not to stare at him.
He said the animal looked ‘intimidating’ – and a colleague told him the gorilla had charged at the glass shortly before the escape.
He said: ‘He looked like he was in a sort of trance, he definitely wasn’t relaxed at all.
‘He looked very intimidating. The zookeeper came over and said, “don’t aggravate him by staring at him”.
‘She could tell he was very agitated, and lo and behold soon after we were told he had escaped.’
London Zoo tonight refused to confirm whether Kumbuka, pictured, was the gorilla involved
The zoo was on lockdown after the massive gorilla burst out of his enclosure earlier today
Mr Barker said a colleague went into the enclosure soon after he had been in there, and saw the animal charging.
He said: ‘He said he charged at the glass but the glass didn’t even wobble.
‘Five minutes after that we were told to get into the nearest safe room.’
A spokesman for London Zoo said: ‘A male gorilla got out of its pen into a non-public keeper area at 5.13pm.
‘He remained contained in the exhibit’s off-show area where staff responded immediately.
‘It was our 18-year-old gorilla Kumbuka and he was tranquilised by vets and returned to his pen.
‘I can confirm that he is awake and well, and the zoo will be open tomorrow.’
Armed zoo keepers hunt the gorilla as members of the public are locked inside the cafe where this picture was taken
Visitors to the Zoo report that helicopters are flying overhead and they can hear sirens
Staff in the zoo handed out free teas and coffees to visitors while armed police patrolled
Members of the public were ordered to retreat to safety and were in lockdown in sites across the zoo.
The gorilla was recaptured after more than 90 minutes on the run.
Scotland Yard said an incident involving an escaped gorilla at London Zoo has 'concluded', amid reports it has been shot with a tranquilliser dart and recaptured.
Eyewitness Brad Evans, who has been allowed to leave the zoo, told BBC Radio London: 'We were in the zoo for the day, having a cup of coffee in the main restaurant area when they locked us all in and said there was an incident.
'They gave us free teas and coffees and obviously we were asking what was going on and they told us that a gorilla had got out of its enclosure and that we weren't allowed out of the park at half-five so we had to wait.
'As we were waiting we saw the police turning up in numbers with loads of guns.'
A spokeswoman for London Zoo today confirmed they 'managed an incident on site'
The gorillas at London Zoo live in a purpose-built enclosure which opened in 2007
Rugby legend Matt Hampson was at London Zoo this evening when the gorilla escaped
Hannah O'Donoghue-Hobbs and her friend Charlotte were locked in during the incident
Hannah O'Donoghue-Hobbs and her friend Charlotte travelled from Manchester for a conference and were were locked in during the incident. They videoed their experience and posted it online. She said: 'It was just like a scene from Jurassic Park.'
She said she saw about 30 armed officers.
The 24-year-old told MailOnline: ‘Everyone was all over the zoo, we were told to get into the nearest building.
‘The staff were saying there was a zoo emergency, they didn’t give us any information but I heard through the staff walkie-talkie that it was a gorilla.
‘I didn’t believe it at first, but then we saw more and more police, there were around 30 armed police, I hadn’t seen police like that before.
‘We saw the police coming in with big guns, and there were people from the zoo with guns.’
She said visitors were told to stay away from the windows and weren’t allowed to take photographs.
The gorilla managed to escape from the Gorilla Kingdom enclosure which opened in 2007
Staff warned visitors to leave the gorilla enclosure when Kumbuka started bashing the glass
Members of the public were locked into a butterfly enclosure while staff hunted the gorilla
Rob Hogan, 37, was visiting a marketing conference and saw the gorilla just seconds before he escaped.
He said: 'We were at the conference all day and it broke for tea time and a group of us went for a walk to see the gorillas.
'We were looking at the silverback and he suddenly jumped at the window.
'It was like a car hitting the window, it was really scary.
'A warden suddenly started ushering us into the reptile room, there was about 20 of us.
'After about an hour they said it was contained and took us out of the park into the street.
'All our stuff was still inside though and now the gorilla has been caught there's a live band playing and some of my colleagues are in there drinking beers.
'The staff said he had got somewhere he shouldn't be, but not got out.'
Police launched a major security alert after the gorilla escaped from its enclosure earlier today
Former England U21 and Leicester Tigers prop Matt Hampson whose foundation was set up to inspire and support young people seriously injured through sport tweeted: 'Well that's the first time that has happened, was doing a talk at London Zoo this evening but evacuated because of an escaped Gorilla!'
He said: 'We were escorted into the zoo at about 5pm and we parked outside the enclosure and I was getting out my car and heard a really loud alarm going off.
'There was lots of keepers and people running about and I was told to go into the room because an animal has escaped.
'They didn't say what it was.
'We went into room where I was going to be giving the talk and we were locked in there for about an hour.
'One of the keepers came to the door and said a gorilla has escaped and that everybody was going to have to leave the premises.
'I put had some bananas in my bag and made light of the situation, I said maybe the gorilla would like to eat the bananas?
'It was quite scary, initially I was sort of c******* myself.'
Armed police patrolled the zoo for 90 minutes while they attempted to recapture the ape
The international wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation tonight revealed it has recently reports of damage to the perimeter glass at the gorilla enclosure and of a possible near-escape involving the gorillas at London Zoo.
Chris Draper, Associate Director for Animal Welfare and Care at the charity, said: “While we are relieved that this incident apparently ended without injury to visitors or to the gorilla, it is yet another startling reminder of the risks associated with maintaining dangerous wild animals in captivity. This incident could have ended very differently. We are calling for an urgent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding this escape, and into safety procedures at London Zoo.”
He said the foundation is calling on the Zoos Expert Committee, the government advisory committee on zoo matters, to investigate the safety and welfare of great apes in UK zoos, and for the Zoo Licensing Act and associated standards to be amended to improve the system of zoo inspections, and increase the penalties for zoos found to be putting their animals or visitors at risk.
A spokesman for London zoo said they were unaware of any previous problems with the glass enclosure and confirmed the incident was being fully investigated.
According to the zoo's website there are at least seven gorillas living in its Gorilla Kingdom.
Among them is Kumbuka, a western lowland silverback, who arrived at ZSL London Zoo in early 2013 from Paignton Zoo in Devon.
Others include Zaire, who came to London Zoo in 1984 after being born in Jersey Zoo, Mjukuu and her daughter Alika, 'teenager' Effie, and Gernot, the latest addition who was born in November last year to Effie and Kumbuka.
London Zoo insist that all members of the public are currently safe despite the escaped gorilla
Visitors to the zoo said they witnessed zoo keepers with tranquillizer guns looking for the ape
When seven-foot-tall Kumbuka arrived at the zoo, in the hope he could boost the numbers of the critically endangered species in the European breeding programme, keeper Daniel Simmonds said: 'We’ve been slowly introducing him to our three females, and Mjukuu and Effie are already quite smitten with their handsome new roommate.
'He is proving to have quite a playful side to him; he loves to snap the branches on the smaller trees on their island and standing in the spray of the hosepipe when we clean his dens.'
In May a gorilla was shot dead by keepers after it grabbed a four-year-old boy who fell into a moat at a US zoo.
Harambe, a 17-year-old, 400-pound-plus male western lowland, was killed after he dragged the youngster around for 10 minutes after he fell 12 feet into the exhibit at Cincinnati Zoo.
Zoo officials made the decision because they felt the boy was in a "life-threatening situation".
The lowland gorilla is an endangered species.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3836773/Armed-keepers-chase-Gorilla-escaped-London-Zoo.html#ixzz4N0L0dD00
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