WEBVTT - Great Escapes: What Happens When Animals Make a Run for It?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio, Hey Brainstuff Lauren Vobebam.

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<v Speaker 1>Here Back in twenty twenty two, a fisherman off the

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<v Speaker 1>coast of Texas spied a puff of light pink feathers

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<v Speaker 1>perched on one leg. It was a flamingo. Flamingos are

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<v Speaker 1>not native to Texas and Nora's Texas anywhere on a

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<v Speaker 1>flamingo's normal migratory path. After tweeting a video of the bird,

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<v Speaker 1>Texas Parks and Wildlife confirmed that the birding question was

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<v Speaker 1>one Pink Floyd, a flamingo that escaped Kansas Zoo in

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<v Speaker 1>two thousand and five. For seventeen years, Pink Floyd had

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<v Speaker 1>traveled through Texas, Arkansas, Wisconsin, and Louisiana as well a

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<v Speaker 1>free bird. There are no updates on it as of

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<v Speaker 1>this recording, but that Pink Floyd is not to be

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<v Speaker 1>confused with another flamingo on the run from an aviary,

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<v Speaker 1>the Pink Floyd of Utah's Salt Lake. Both of these

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<v Speaker 1>birds were able to assescape because their keepers hadn't kept

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<v Speaker 1>their wing feathers clipped, and they simply flew away. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>let's talk about some daring animal escapes. I will say

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<v Speaker 1>most of these stories have happy endings, but we do

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<v Speaker 1>discuss one injury and a few later deaths. Just want

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<v Speaker 1>to give you a heads up in case you frequently

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<v Speaker 1>visit does thedogdie dot com up or if like me,

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<v Speaker 1>you're a little bit on edge right now? Okay, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>first step, let's talk about the Saint Louis six. In

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<v Speaker 1>twenty seventeen, six steers and Saint Louis were sent to

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<v Speaker 1>a slaughterhouse, but they were not about to go quietly.

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<v Speaker 1>Led by a huge steer named Chico, six of them

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<v Speaker 1>broke out, as supposedly agitated by the rumblings of an

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<v Speaker 1>approaching thunderstorm. Likely scared by their freedom and the ruckus

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<v Speaker 1>had caused, they ran through the streets of Saint Louis

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<v Speaker 1>for hours. They evaded everybody while capturing the attention of

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<v Speaker 1>the media, animal lovers, and the local community. Authorities eventually

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<v Speaker 1>rounded the crew up, but by then the public had

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<v Speaker 1>also begun a campaign for their freedom. A non profit

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<v Speaker 1>animal sanctuary called the Gentle Barn stepped in to negotiate

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<v Speaker 1>with the slaughterhouse, which gave them twenty four hours to

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<v Speaker 1>find the Steers a new home, and that they did.

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<v Speaker 1>The six were sent to a rescue until enough funds

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<v Speaker 1>could be raised to build a new facility in Missouri

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<v Speaker 1>especially for them. Although one bull, a named Spirit, had

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<v Speaker 1>to be euthanized due to injuries sustained during his adventures,

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<v Speaker 1>and another Eddy has since died, the other four, named Houdini,

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<v Speaker 1>Johnny cash Rue, and their fearless leader Chico, now live

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<v Speaker 1>happily as therapy cows at the Gentle Barn location in Tennessee.

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<v Speaker 1>Next up the Dania Beach monkeys of Broward County, Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>In nineteen forty eight, fifty green monkeys escaped from the

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<v Speaker 1>Anthropoid Ape Research Foundation or ARFF. Green monkeys are a

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<v Speaker 1>species with fur in shades of gray, gold and a

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<v Speaker 1>little bit of green that weigh only a couple of

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<v Speaker 1>pounds or about a kilo. The ARFF was opened in

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<v Speaker 1>the early nineteen forties in South Florida as a zoo

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<v Speaker 1>and provide primates from Africa for the research for the

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<v Speaker 1>polio vaccine. After the monkeys escape, some were captured, but

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<v Speaker 1>the others started lives in the Florida wild. Now, more

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<v Speaker 1>than seventy years later, scientists from Florida Atlantic University have

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<v Speaker 1>been able to trace a colony of thirty six monkeys

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<v Speaker 1>thriving in the thick mangrove forest near the Fort Lauderdale

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<v Speaker 1>Airport to those remaining escapees. How partially because of that

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<v Speaker 1>green coloration, the researchers photographed every monkey at Dania Beach

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<v Speaker 1>and recorded various traits to help identify their species. They

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<v Speaker 1>also tested genetic markers and confirmed that the Dania Beach

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<v Speaker 1>monkeys are in fact descendants of those from West Africa. Today,

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<v Speaker 1>there's nonprofit the Vervet Project, whose goal is to build

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<v Speaker 1>a sanctuary for the monkeys to keep them safe from

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<v Speaker 1>human interactions. Of course, these monkeys aren't the only primates

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<v Speaker 1>to have broken free. The San Diego Zoo had an

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<v Speaker 1>orangutan known for pulling escape backs by the name of

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<v Speaker 1>Ken Allen. He first got out in nineteen eighty five,

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<v Speaker 1>scaling a wall and then strolling down the zoo's pedestrian

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<v Speaker 1>pathway and taking in the sites before being walked back

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<v Speaker 1>to his enclosure, which wasn't very enclosed. Zoo staff increased

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<v Speaker 1>the height of the wall by four feet that's a

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<v Speaker 1>little over a meter, but that didn't stop can Allen,

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<v Speaker 1>or the great Ape and even some of his ape

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<v Speaker 1>friends escaped an additional nine times. He was even known

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<v Speaker 1>to use tools to do it. When he was young,

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<v Speaker 1>he had unscrew the bolts of his nursery at night

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<v Speaker 1>and then put the pen back together before his caretakers

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<v Speaker 1>arrived the following morning. One time, he and his roommate Vicki,

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<v Speaker 1>used a discarded crowbar that he found in his pen

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<v Speaker 1>to open a window. After several escapes, the zoo tried

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<v Speaker 1>electric wire and even distracted him by att two female

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<v Speaker 1>rang attends to his enclosure. Nothing worked. Eventually, his female

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<v Speaker 1>counterparts A Jane and Kumeng picked up the behavior and

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<v Speaker 1>made their getaway using a window squeegee. A Ken Allen

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<v Speaker 1>died from cancer in the year two thousand, at twenty

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<v Speaker 1>nine years old. His status as a local hero long confirmed.

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<v Speaker 1>The Los Angeles Zoo has also had its fair share

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<v Speaker 1>of animal escapes. Of Virginia, a wolf escaped numerous times

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<v Speaker 1>during the seventies and eighties by climbing trees and fences,

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<v Speaker 1>and Evelyn, a Western Lowland gorilla, escaped her living arrangements

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<v Speaker 1>at least five times. Evelyn was creative with her getaways,

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<v Speaker 1>as she successfully jumped off the back of another gorilla

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<v Speaker 1>to go over a wall and used overgrown vines to

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<v Speaker 1>pull herself up and over the wall or to swing

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<v Speaker 1>over the twelve foot mote. That time, she didn't even

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<v Speaker 1>leave the zoo perimeter. She just roamed around for a

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<v Speaker 1>little over an hour and was, according to the Los

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<v Speaker 1>Angeles Times, behaving like a huge child. Evelyn was born

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<v Speaker 1>in the Los Angeles Zoo in nineteen seventy six, and

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<v Speaker 1>she lived to the truly impressive age of forty six years,

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<v Speaker 1>perhaps partially due to her irrepressible personality. Today's episode is

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<v Speaker 1>based on the article Great Escapes five wild Animals who

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<v Speaker 1>busted out and went on the run on how Stuffworks

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<v Speaker 1>dot Com, written by Alison Trautner. Brainstuff is production of

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<v Speaker 1>iHeartRadio in partnership with how Stuffworks dot Com and is

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<v Speaker 1>produced by Tyler Klang. Four more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the Airheartradio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen

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