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Popular South Coast Zoo Animal Dies In Accident

(Santa Barbara Zoo photo)
A white handed gibbon at the Santa Barbara Zoo named Jari died Thursday as the result of an accident

An endangered gibbon living at a South Coast zoo died as the result of an accident.  The head of a white handed gibbon named "Jari" became entangled in a net in her enclosure at the Santa Barbara Zoo.

The gibbon was just over five years old.  She came to Santa Barbara from a zoo in Jackson, Mississippi.  The gibbons are native to Asia.

Zoo officials say the net was a type commonly placed in enclosures to give primates a climbing activity.  They are similar to so-called "cargo nets" used by people.

When keepers found the gibbon in the net Thursday morning, she was rushed to the zoo's animal hospital, but efforts to revive her were unsuccessful.  Zoo officials say they will send reports on the accident to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums, which oversee zoo animals.

Lance Orozco has been News Director of KCLU since 2001, providing award-winning coverage of some of the biggest news events in the region, including the Thomas and Woolsey brush fires, the deadly Montecito debris flow, the Borderline Bar and Grill attack, and Ronald Reagan's funeral. 
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