Chimpanzee Escapes from Little Rock Zoo, Then Cleans the Bathroom

Tuesday at the Little Rock Zoo in Little Rock, AK, was just like any other day until a zookeeper opened a door to the sleeping quarters of Judy, unaware that the was still inside. Judy, a 120-pound chimpanzee, saw her opportunity and escaped into a service area. She made her way to the kitchen, where she began methodically raiding the cupboards.

Judy opened cabinets and drawers, pulling out juice and soft drinks. She even managed to open a few bottles and take swigs from them. Then she wrung out a sponge and scrubbed down the refrigerator, before abandoning the kitchen and making her way to the bathroom. She picked up a toilet brush and cleaned the toilet.

According to primate keeper Ann Rademacher, Judy was kept as a pet before the zoo acquired her in 1988, so she may have been familiar with how to perform housekeeping chores before she came to the zoo. "Her technique was good enough to make me think she must have done it before," Rademacher told reporters.

Zookeepers tried to woo the 37-year old primate back into her cage, but she resisted. She accepted some strawberry yogurt that had been laced with a sedative, but it didn’t work. So when she pulled a loaf of cinnamon raisin bread out of the freezer, keepers waited until she was distracted enough that they could inject her with a sedative.

After being taken back to her living quarters, the zoo veterinarian gave Judy a drug to bring her around. Rademacher said that although Judy was groggy after she awoke, she was none the worse for wear after her little adventure. And the service area now has a clean toilet.