A MONKEY HAS died after it was hit by a car following an escape from Belfast Zoo.
The monkey was spotted on the M2 motorway in north Belfast yesterday evening and was being tracked by zoo keepers when it was hit by the car.
The city council said an investigation was now under way as to how the spider monkey escaped from its enclosure, and staff at the zoo are said to be devastated by the loss.
A spokesperson said: “We are sorry to announce that a spider monkey, which escaped from Belfast Zoo on Saturday night has died.
The monkey was being tracked by keepers when the accident occurred and despite being quickly taken back to the Zoo for veterinary assistance died shortly afterwards.
Several people took to social media to say that they’d seen the monkey roaming the Belfast streets before the incident.
The BBC reported that this isn’t the first time animals have escaped the zoo, with two lion-tailed macaques escaping in 2015, and a further six breaking out in 2013.
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