Thiruvananthapuram: An elusive female Grey Langur that had broken free from its cage at the zoo here was finally caught by zookeepers, after weeks of being on a 'city tour' on Thursday. The animal, which had kept the zoo's caretakers and the residents of the nearby locality on their toes, was successfully captured from a building in the campus of the Goethe-Zentrum, the German cultural centre here, sources said.
After being informed about the presence of the animal, the zoo staffers came and caught the female primate using a net. The monkey was later shifted to the zoo enclosure and its health is fine as of now, sources said. Known as 'Hanuman kurangu (monkey)' among local people, the white-haired monkey, with a black face and ears, was brought to the zoological park here recently from a neighbouring state as part of an animal transfer programme.
The new member gave a slip to zoo staffers and ran out of its enclosure last month. After escaping from the zoo, the Grey Langur had been keeping people guessing with its hide-and-seek game, by appearing in one spot or another suddenly and vanishing from there within no time.
But it could not be brought down despite the zoo staff offering its favourite food, including various fruits, and trying to attract it by showing its partner. Local people, who came to know about the escape of the monkey through the media, gathered in huge numbers in many places to catch a glimpse of the ape whenever it appeared outside the zoo.
The zoo authorities had deployed dedicated staff to track the elusive animal and provide it food and water on time, until it was finally captured today.
(With PTI inputs)
