Video: lab baboons break out of Texas medical research centre

Four baboons managed to pull off a cunning plan to escape from a Texas biomedical research facility.

The breakout occurred at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute's Southwest National Primate Research Center, near San Antonio, which houses around 2,900 primates used to study diseases, vaccines and drug therapies.

The centre’s 1,400 baboons have access to a walled enclosure containing a selection of “enrichment tools” to keep them stimulated, including 55-gallon barrels.

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On Saturday, a quartet of canny primates apparently worked together to move the barrel to against the wall, then used the boost to clamber to freedom.

That freedom was short-lived, however. Eyewitness footage recorded by a passing motorist shows a member of staff racing along the roadside in pursuit of one of the baboons.

Within half an hour, three of the escapees had been captured by a specially trained team, while the fourth returned to the facility of his own accord, local ABC affiliate KSAT reports.

“All of the escaped baboons were unharmed and are said to be doing well.”

However, in the aftermath of the escape news, animal rights group Peta has released documents which it says undermine the facility’s claims that its animals are “treated with reverence”.

The documents show that the centre has received numerous warnings from government inspectors regarding the welfare of its inmates, and was “required to pay a fine after it was found in violation of the Animal Welfare Act in 2011”, KSAT reports.