Escaped Orangutan Goes Ape

An orangutan is seen subdued by a tranquilizer dart after it escaped from its cage in Taiwan.

TAIPEI, Taiwan — An orangutan escaped from a Taiwanese zoo and terrified patrons at a nearby restaurant Wednesday, overturning picnic tables and motorbikes and forcing terrified diners to cower inside the eatery.

The orangutan, who pushed his way out of his cage before wandering into the restaurant, was subdued when an official shot him with a tranquilizer dart. He was carted off for treatment in the scoop of a small bulldozer.

Wednesday's incident occurred six weeks after a 440-pound crocodile chewed the forearm off a veterinarian at the same zoo. The vet's limb was reattached in a seven-hour surgery.

Orangutans are native to the forests of Malaysia and Indonesia. They have a shaggy, reddish-brown coat, long arms and no tail.

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