In a rare moment of joy, a chimpanzee that escaped from Kharkiv city zoo, Ukraine, on Monday, was persuaded to return by an employee who wheeled her back on a bicycle.
In scenes reminiscent of a Buster Keaton movie, staff at the zoo in Ukraine’s second biggest city struggled to persuade Chichi, who’d wandered around the streets and a nearby park, to return to the zoo alongside them.
But, when it started to rain, she ran to one of her keepers, who took off her yellow jacket, and put it on the ape, before they embraced and Chichi was put on the seat of a bike.
The footage brought a moment of relief to the otherwise under-siege city, that suffers daily bombardment from Russian forces.
The Guardian reported that the zoo’s director, Oleksiy Grigoryev, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspiilne, that the chimp was now safely back in the zoo.
However, this wasn’t Chichi’s first bid for freedom. According to reports, after making a hole in a chain link fence, the chimp had attempted freedom a number of times, before finally breaking free.
Grigoryev confirmed to Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne, that Chichi was in good shape after her latest adventure, and that the animal was safely back in the zoo.
Earlier in the war, Chichi had been evacuated from the Feldman Ecopark, an outdoor zoo, that is on the frontlines in the Kharkiv region.
Kharkiv city has faced daily shelling, and buildings across the northern and eastern parts of the city have been left blackened by bombs, as well as leaving hundreds of civilians killed and injured, reports The Guardian.
The city centre, where the zoo is located, has been hit less frequently since its administrative buildings were destroyed in March. However, last week, at least four civilians were killed when a rocket hit the city’s centre.
Kharkiv’s regional authorities said on Tuesday that one woman had been killed in the east of the city, while two other women and a man had been rescued from the rubble of a building in the city centre.
Chichi was lucky to leave her former home at Feldman’s Ecopark alive, after more than 100 animals died before they were able to be evacuated, said the zoo’s owner, Oleksander Feldman.
Six other people who volunteered to help with the evacuation of the animals were also killed, said Feldman.
On Monday night, two people were killed in the town of Zolochev, while an elderly woman died in a missile strike on Kharkiv’s industrial suburb. In August, at least four people were killed in shelling in the city.
“As a result of the shelling of the central part of Kharkiv, at least four people died and four more were injured,” Oleh Synehubov said on the Telegram messaging app.
According to reports, the missile strikes landed on a central part of the city, hitting a public park, kindergarten and an area near a hospital.
