"Have you heard about the baboons on the loose?"
It's the first question you're likely to be asked around the watercooler today, as three of the primates did indeed take a walk on the wild side in Sydney on Tuesday.
One male and two female baboons escaped from a research facility on the grounds of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the Sydney suburb of Camperdown, causing everyone including the local police force to monkey around making furiously bad jokes about it.
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There's footage, of course, but by this time, every major news outlet in Sydney has splashed their watermark all over it, so have a look on Twitter here.
Police were called to the RPA at around 5:30 p.m. local time, according to The Australian, and managed to round up the baboons in the parking lot before they were returned to the facility by animal handlers from Taronga Zoo within a few hours.
It was a brief and beautiful run.
SEE ALSO: Hero dog opens 3 doors and escapes an animal hospitalNSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard said that the baboons were present at the facility for a vasectomy operation for the male (the female baboons were reportedly there to keep him company), as reported by the Sydney Morning Herald. The baboons had escaped from their transport vehicle when being brought to the hospital for the operation.
As Junkee pointed out, the RPA does have other baboons housed within its facility for research, which is a practice condemned by animal rights groups. However, the three baboons involved in the escape are believed to have come from the NSW National Health and Medical Research Council baboon colony in Wallacia, western Sydney.
Like any classic animal escape story, people unleashed their best on Twitter.
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Greens MP Mehreen Faruqi posted a short, sharp statement on Twitter.
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We also wish them well.
