1 Chimpanzee Dead, 1 Tranquilized After Vegas Escape

What happens in Vegas is sometimes even more bizarre than one might think, and now one chimpanzee is dead and another has been tranquilized following a Las Vegas police chase.

The Associated Press reported that two chimps escaped a Las Vegas backyard and rampaged through a neighborhood Thursday, and in a scene reminiscent the film “Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” pounded on cars and jumped into at least one vehicle before police ended the rampage. The report stated that one witness saw a chimp jump on top of a police car and pound on the hood, while an officer was inside.

No one was hurt during the rampage that occurred after the animals somehow escaped their backyard enclosure around 10 a.m. Thursday. The Las Vegas chimp killed by police was a male, and the other, a female, collapsed only after being hit with two tranquilizer darts. The female passed out in a neighborhood yard.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the male weighed abut 170 pounds and was found to be in “an agitated state” when police arrived after fielding calls from panicked residents. It was taken down as it crossed a street, heading toward a group of onlookers, some of whom had children with them.

Animal control officers took down the female.

According to the AP report, “Clark County spokesman Dan Kulin said the owner had proper permits to keep the animals on the property in unincorporated county territory outside Las Vegas city limits, as well as a license from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.”

What do you think, did the cops do the right thing?

(Photo by Thomas Lersch)