London Zoo gorilla charges glass wall moments before escape

LONDON, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- A visitor to the London Zoo recorded the moment a 400-pound gorilla smashed into the glass wall of his enclosure moments before escaping.

Kumbuka, a western lowland silverback, was filmed by a zoo visitor forcefully striking the glass wall of his enclosure at the London Zoo Thursday, moments before the zoo was placed into lockdown as a result of his escape.

Zoo officials said Kumbuka did not break the glass wall, but rather escaped through an open door into a secure area accessible only by zookeepers.

Kumbuka was tranquilized and returned to his enclosure, where keepers said he was doing well after his brief time outside of the habitat.

"Yesterday evening [Kumbuka] was making happy gorilla grumbling noises and interacting with the rest of his family in the Gorilla Kingdom and also the keeper stayed on and gave him some extra treats yesterday evening," Malcolm Fitzpatrick, the zoo's curator of mammals, said Friday.