Animals Escaped monkey at Lake Constance is named Luke Lakewalker

The escaped monkey in the German Lake Constance region has been given a name: Luke Lakewalker is now the name of the escapee who made a trip to the lake from Salem's Affenberg for a while last week.

The Barbary macaque was given the name because he stayed on a copper beech tree with a view of the lake, a spokeswoman for the German outdoor enclosure announced on Instagram. "We hope Luke Lakewalker enjoyed his short vacation at beautiful Lake Constance."

The five-year-old male had made it out of the outdoor enclosure thanks to his climbing skills and had been spotted several times in the region since Friday. After a night of wandering, the primate was found on an apple tree near a campsite.

According to the spokeswoman for the Salemer Affenberg, he was able to escape because the trees had grown so well this year that the branches of the trees in the enclosure had partially overlapped with the branches of the trees outside the enclosure.

Lakewalker and record breaker

Luke is also trying to change groups. This is a mechanism used by the Barbary macaques to avoid inbreeding. Instead of trying his luck with a group of monkeys within the enclosure, he was probably trying to find one outside.

"Luke is definitely an outlier who has broken the record: Because no Barbary macaque has ever been so far away from the monkey enclosure." He is now back with his family and friends and in good health.

The gray-brown Barbary macaques originate from the mountainous regions of Morocco and Algeria and are on the IUCN Red List. According to the park, the global population is estimated to be less than 8,000.

At Salem Monkey Mountain, almost 200 animals live in a 20-hectare wooded area as they would in the wild. Visitors can walk through the enclosure and get really close to the monkeys.