Vegas Chimp Escapes Again
Incredibly, C.J., one of the two chimpanzees who escaped from their cage at a private home in Las Vegas in July, broke out yet again. She was found, tranquilized with a dart, and this time she was taken to the Las Vegas Zoo. (Her companion, Buddy, was shot and killed when the two broke out last time.) [readon]
It’s unclear whether C.J. bent the bars on her cage by herself, or whether she had some help from someone with an axe to grind – maybe someone who’s angling for tougher laws against keeping wild animals in private homes.
Either way, C.J. future is hardly the greatest. her life has been a series of bad situations – from being captured in the wild, to being a showpiece at a flea market, to other forms of entertainment, to a home where the people believed they were caring for her but were in way over their heads, to the zoo. And if the zoo is perhaps a step up from what C.J. had before, that doesn’t say much for what went before.
The Las Vegas Zoo – also known as the Southern Nevada Zoological Botanical Park – bills itself as “Nevada’s Wildest Family Entertainment” … which has little to do with providing special care for wildlife.
Prior to being taken to the zoo, C.J. was put in the care of a casino magician who uses wild animals in his acts.