This past weekend, a woman wanted to get closer to monkeys at the El Paso Zoo. On Saturday, May 22, a young woman entered the El Paso Zoo habitat that housed the spider monkeys.
Lucy Rae was fired from the Lovett Law Firm. It did not take long for the law firm to find out about the incident.
The law firm said they support the animals and do not support the conduct of their former employee.
The El Paso zoo plans to press charges breaching security against the woman and they are working with the district attorney.
The video went viral. On the video clip is said the woman was feeding the monkey hot Cheetos but it is not clear if she was actually feeding the monkey the Cheetos.
The Zoo director Joe Montisano said the woman was “stupid and lucky” for Rae.
The monkeys may look small but they are very strong and can be dangerous. The zookeepers normally do not bother the monkeys.
"It was stupid. She knew what she was doing was wrong. She's very fortunate that it didn't have a worse outcome for her or the animals," Montisano said in an interview with the El Paso Times. "These are primates. They are strong; they have canine teeth. They can scratch. We don't interact with them on the daily. And we don't interact with them without a barrier in between us."
"We just talked to the police and we are going to proceed with pressing charges. And they will talk to the district attorney. We can't let this behavior go unpunished, Montisano said.
As the woman was leaving the area, she was helped out of the animal compound by another person.
"These are primates we're talking about, they could do some substantial damage to you,” Mason Kleist, a zookeeper at facility said. “They may be small monkey's but they can take you to the ground if they wanted to.”
The zookeeper said the woman’s actions could hurt the relationship between the monkeys and zookeepers.
“It takes years to build trust with these animals and for someone to come in there for five minutes for a video on Instagram or whatever just ruins years of work,” Kleist said. “It's going to take a long time to get them back to where they were and training."
The 38-second video clip was uploaded on Instagram by the user FitFam.
You can watch a clip of the video here.
This was actually the second person to enter into an animal enclosure in the El Paso Zoo this year. Earlier this year small child was standing in the area that separates guests from the chimpanzee area. This video shows this event.
The Zoo is working to install better cameras and a fence to prevent future incidents like this from happening. Hopefully, this prevents future incidents from happening.
El Paso Zoo updates
The El Paso Zoo no longer requires a mask falling in line with Governor Perry’s opening-up policy. The Zoo recommends continuing practicing social distancing and if you are sick to stay home.
This is just in time for the upcoming weekend. Normally the Zoo is closed on Monday but they are open this week for Memorial Day. A few additional exhibits will also open on Monday.
Zoo exhibits that are open include the Asia Forest Complex, Ranch House, El Paso Electric Kalahari Research Station, Aviary, Hunt Family Endangered Species Carousel, Africa Star Train, Sea Lion Presentations (Daily 11:30 am).
A few exhibits that are still closed include the Copper Canyon Challenge Ropes Course, South American Pavilion (renovation), and the El Paso Water Discovery Education Center.