Baboon escapes crate at Texas airport; officers corner him

SAN ANTONIO – A baboon on his way to a South Texas wildlife sanctuary escaped his crate and kept officers busy for two hours at San Antonio International Airport.

Officers shot the baboon named Dawkins with a tranquilizer dart. The ape got loose Monday afternoon shortly after arriving on an American Airlines flight from Chicago. The flight had originated in Boston.

Airport spokesman Rich Stinson says officers managed to corner Dawkins in a baggage handling area outside the terminal. Stinson says the baboon never came close to travellers and was confined the whole time to a secure baggage area.

Dawkins was being transported from Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, to the Born Free USA sanctuary near Cotulla, Texas.