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The macaques escaped from their enclosure and wandered around the zoo.[Photo/Chinanews.com]

9 macaques 'fly' from a zoo in SW China

A group of nine monkeys who seem to have wanted to "explore" more "new worlds", successfully broke out of their compound at a zoo in Kunming, Southwest China's Yunnan province, China.org.cn reported on Wednesday.

A rhesus macaque led eight fellow macaques as they jumped over a four- meter-wide ditch around their hill enclosure at the zoo on Saturday, according to the report.

Although they have "fled" from the enclosure, the primates are still at the zoo.

A staff member surnamed Huang said the macaques were part of a group of 30 that the zoo brought from neighboring Guizhou province last year.

According to the report, zoo visitors who witnessed their escape said, "The monkeys jumped as if they were flying", when they crossed the moat surrounding the hill.

Huang said the monkeys escaped because they may not have adapted to the new environment. Zoo officials will not rush to recapture the simians.