On Wednesday, five chimpanzees escaped from their enclosure in the monkey house at Furuviksparken just outside Gävle. Tracks in the snow show, according to the park’s CEO Sandra Wilke, that one or more chimpanzees made their way out of the park through a door.
In connection with the escape on Wednesday, three were shot dead, the monkeys Linda and Torsten outside the house and Santino inside the house. A fourth, Manda, has now also been confirmed dead after long being assessed as injured.
In the studio this morning is Ing-Marie Persson who is now retired but for over thirty years was a chimpanzee keeper at Furuviksparken in Gävle. During those years she developed a very close relationship with the chimpanzees in the group. A unique relationship that drew attention not only here at home in Sweden but also abroad.
– They were like my closest friends back then, she says in Nyhetsmorgon.
She took care of many of the chimpanzees from the time they were small and could go in with them and was one of the herd. She now directs sharp criticism against Furuviksparken’s actions.
– It wouldn’t have had to go like this if they had done the right thing, she says, bursting into tears.
Ing-Marie lived with the chimpanzees for 30 years – hear her talk about the relationship here