Zoos have changed a lot over the last century. More recently, many have pivoted their focus to conservation, animal rehabilitation and education about wild ecosystems.
But regardless of the intent in keeping wildlife behind bars, some animals seem to feel that they would be better off free from their trappings. Some of these zoo escapes have captured the imagination of the public, while others are downright scary. Here are a few of the stranger zoo escapes in the past century.
A rhesus macaques monkey poses for a photo. (Credit: Md. Tareq Aziz Touhid/Wikimedia Commons)
Md. Tareq Aziz Touhid/Wikimedia Commons
In 1935, more than a hundred rhesus macaques escaped an enclosure on Long Island in New York state by crossing a moat via a plank left by a keeper. The macaques ran wild in the surrounding community, climbing on houses and blocking train tracks, according to a news article in the ...
