Mara, a 22-year-old fenale chimpanzee, started the year doing what shw knows best: opening a hole in the wire that surrounds her cage in Puerto Rico Zoo and having a few hours of freedom.

Other previous attempts of Mara were detected before she managed to escape. But this time, during the holidays of Christmas and New Year, nobody watched closely and she could open the screen to pass through it.

The zoo stopped, while biologists and veterinarians accompanied Mara in her three-hour tour, which ended when she was stuck with an anesthetic dart and taken back to her prison.

An interesting fact: Mara had a twin sister, who died prematurely, as it is common in zoos.

Mara lives with a male chimpanzee, named Magnum, 31, who did not escape.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian
President, GAP Project International