Las Vegas Sun

May 19, 2013

Currently: 71° | Complete forecast | Log in

Houdini-like chimp arrives at new home in Oregon

Image

courtesy of Facebook

Male chimpanzee Buddy, left, was shot and killed July 12 in a northwest Las Vegas Valley neighborhood after escaping his enclosure at a private residence. His companion, 13-year-old C.J., also escaped but was captured and taken back to her owners.

CJ — Las Vegas’ most celebrated chimp escape artist — is now a resident of Oregon.

The 13-year-old female chimpanzee, who had broken out of her cage in northwest Las Vegas twice in recent weeks, has arrived safely at a chimp sanctuary just north of Bend, Ore.

“Thanks to Marla O’Donnell, sanctuary director, and Lee Watkinson, one of CJ’s former owners, she is safe and sound in her new home,” according to a statement released Friday by Chimps Inc.

“She was greeted by chimpanzees Topo, Herbie, Jackson, Patti, Maggie Thiele and Emma, who each have a unique story of their own, just like CJ,” the organization said.

CJ (Calamity Jane) and her 14-year-old male chimp companion, Buddy, first escaped July 12 from their residential Las Vegas enclosure, where they had lived for about 10 years.

Buddy was shot and killed by police after jumping on cars and heading toward onlookers. CJ was tranquilized and captured.

CJ made a second, brief escape on Saturday from her former cage in the 5700 block of Rowland Avenue.

Discussion: 1 comments so far…

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy. Additionally, we now display comments from trusted commenters by default. Those wishing to become a trusted commenter need to verify their identity or sign in with Facebook Connect to tie their Facebook account to their Las Vegas Sun account. For more on this change, read our story about how it works and why we did it.

Only trusted comments are displayed on this page. Untrusted comments have expired from this story.

  1. I'm glad CJ has a new secure home.

Post a comment

Commenting requires registration.

Comments are moderated by Las Vegas Sun editors. Our goal is not to limit the discussion, but rather to elevate it. Comments should be relevant and contain no abusive language. Comments that are off-topic, vulgar, profane or include personal attacks will be removed. Full comments policy.

If you would like to submit your comment as a letter to the editor, you may submit it here.

Most Popular