Police officer shoots fugitive chimpanzee

BASTROP, Texas, March 16 (UPI) -- An animal rights group has filed a complaint over the escape of a chimpanzee from a University of Texas facility and its fatal shooting by a police officer.

The chimpanzee managed to leap at least 16 feet Wednesday from a jungle-gym structure in the corral to the perimeter wall, The Austin American-Statesman reported. The corral houses chimpanzees at a medical research center in Bastrop.

While staffers at the research center were trying to tranquilize the chimpanzee, a University of Texas at Houston police officer shot it. The officer has been placed on administrative leave while the shooting is investigated.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals filed its complaint on Thursday with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The group claims that the research center did not train its staff properly and did not provide secure enclosures.

Dr. Christian Abee, the head of the research center, said that the escape was the first from the chimpanzee corrals, which have been in use for more than 30 years.