L.A. Zoo Chimp Strangles While Playing With Rope

A 3-year-old male chimpanzee accidentally strangled himself while playing with a rope Friday at the Los Angeles Zoo, officials said.

Jamal, a playful and “typical little kid chimp,” was tugging on a 4-inch-thick nylon rope when he tore a strand loose and wrapped it around his neck and head, said Jennie McNary, the zoo’s principal animal keeper.

“The keepers are just devastated by this loss,” she said.

Officials said they removed the rope and a similar one in the orangutan exhibit. Such ropes are common in zoos across the country, said Lora LaMarca, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Zoo.

Keepers noticed something wrong about 8:15 a.m. when a construction worker told them he heard panicked screams from the chimpanzees’ open-air exhibit.

A group of chimpanzees had surrounded Jamal, apparently trying to pull the rope from his neck, McNary said. But their efforts may have done more harm than good.

“With all the turmoil of prodding and poking, that probably did make the rope get tighter,” she said.

Zookeepers’ efforts to aid Jamal were delayed about half an hour because they first had to corral the other chimps, using jets of water to force them away from Jamal.

By the time veterinarians reached Jamal and tried to revive him using cardiopulmonary resuscitation, he was dead.

At noon, zookeepers brought Jamal’s body back to the exhibit.

“Our chimpanzees are a close-knit family unit, and, like all chimpanzees, extremely intelligent,” McNary said. “They probably know that Jamal is dead, but they may need closure.”

Some chimpanzees whimpered and tried to revive the body by splashing him with water, LaMarca said.

“We’ll probably see some emotional reaction,” she said. “Some will stay off their feed for a couple of days.”