Good Gorilla News

Where was Jane Goodall when we needed her?

As reported on FITS, a male Gorilla named “Mike” escaped confinement at Riverbanks Zoo this morning for approximately five minutes, injuring one food service worker in the process.

The zoo – a popular regional tourist attraction located in Columbia, S.C. – was on lock down for nearly an hour as a result of the incident.

Zoo officials confirmed this afternoon that the injured employee had only minor scrapes and bruises – and was treated and released by a local hospital.

The company that provides food services for the zoo declined to release the employee’s name.

So how did “Mike” get free? Zoo officials said he climbed a bamboo shoot “the width of a dime.”

Pretty nimble for such a big boy, eh?

“Mike” is a Western Lowlands gorilla, one of three males that was transferred to South Carolina from the Philadelphia Zoo five years ago.

In a completely unrelated note, this incident got the Gorillaz song “Feel Good Inc.” stuck in our founding editor’s head … like all day.

How does it go?

“Booomp, ba-booomp-booomp, booomp booom (feel good), booomp, ba-booomp-booomp, booomp booom (feel good).”

Or something like that … anyway, glad nobody was hurt.