A chimpanzee fled from a zoo in northern Japan and tried desperately to avoid capture by climbing an electric pole.


He didn’t stay there long.


Chacha, the male chimp, was on the loose for nearly two hours on Thursday after he disappeared from the Yagiyama Zoological Park in Sendai, the city that will be hosting finance ministers from the Group of 7 industrialized nations in May.


Television footage showed Chacha perched atop the pole, agitated and screaming at zoo workers below. Even after being shot by a sedative arrow in the back, he desperately tried to escape, dangling from a power line.


He finally fell head down into a blanket held by a dozen workers on the ground.


Zoo officials told Agence France-Presse that the animal was unhurt but recovering from sedation, news outlets reported. The zoo is investigating how he escaped.




Video courtesy-VIDEOLANDMARKS/YouTube