Law firm fires woman filmed climbing into spider monkey exhibit at El Paso Zoo [View all]

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A Texas woman, Lucy Rae, was filmed trying to feed spider monkeys after climbing into an exhibit at the El Paso Zoo. The video shows the unidentified woman sitting on a rock appearing to throw food at two monkeys. The smiling woman later climbs out of the exhibit.

After footage surfaced on social media, the woman's law firm released a statement saying that she had been fired. "We learned this morning that the individual who was filmed trespassing in the spider monkey enclosure of the El Paso Zoo was an employee of Lovett Law Firm," the company said Monday. "She has been terminated." The firm, which did not name the woman, called her behavior "irresponsible and reckless."

Zoo officials told the El Paso Times that they cannot let the woman's dangerous stunt go unpunished and they plan on pressing charges against her. "This young lady decided to hop a fence, climb through some bushes, drop down into a four-feet deep moat, walk across the moat and then try to feed the spider monkeys," director Joe Montisano said. "It was stupid."

He said the woman is lucky the situation ended the way it did. "These are primates. They are strong; they have canine teeth. They can scratch. We don't interact with them on the daily," Montisano told the newspaper.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/video-shows-woman-climb-el-paso-zoo-exhibit-try-feed-n1268463

Instagram video at https://www.instagram.com/p/CPMpxNGHRjj/