Macaque escapes from Edinburgh Zoo sister park

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland can confirm a Japanese macaque escaped from its enclosure at Highland Wildlife Park on Sunday 28 January.

Keith Gilchrist, living collections operations manager at Highland Wildlife Park said, “There has been a sighting of the macaque this morning, which we are currently responding to.

Throughout the day our expert team of animal keepers will be patrolling the local area using a variety of techniques to try and coax him in, as well as using our thermal image drone contractor to aid with the search.

Cairngorms Mountain Rescue has also kindly offered to support with their thermal imaging drone.

“As with yesterday, we’re asking locals to please bring any obvious potential food sources like bird feeders or food waste inside, as we’re hopeful that the monkey will return to the park if he can’t find food elsewhere.

“Although the macaque is not presumed dangerous to humans or pets, our advice is to not approach him but to contact our hotline on 07933928377 with any sightings.”