Chimps rounded up at gunpoint

Armed police opened fire after a group of chimpanzees broke out of a compound at Belfast Zoo.

They took the drastic action to force the chimps to return to their enclosure, reports the Daily Telegraph.

Reports initially swept Belfast that police had shot the animals dead, but a spokesman insisted: "We didn't kill them, we fired in the air."

Officers reported the incident to the police ombudsman because it involved the police firing with live ammunition.

Police in Belfast said yesterday that officers went to the zoo after a report of a number of primates escaping from their compound.

A spokesman said: "Following consultations with zoo staff and a vet a number of warning shots were fired and the animals returned to their enclosure."

It is not the first time that Belfast zoo has had to deal with unruly primates. Two months ago, an adolescent monkey escaped in a fit of pique after an argument with his father.

After seven days on the run, zoo-keepers recaptured him by firing a dart loaded with sedative into his thigh.

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