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A gorilla escaped from her Los Angeles Zoo exhibit twice last month by climbing onto the shoulders of a male gorilla and scaling a 12-foot wall, prompting zoo workers to modify the enclosure. Evelyn, a 200-pound lowland gorilla, and Leonel, her young male accomplice, “definitely communicate,” gorilla keeper Jennifer Chatfield said. “I don’t know about planning a break, but they definitely vocalize.” Evelyn, who was born in captivity, made a break at lunchtime Nov. 19 for the other side of the dry moat that separates the zoo animals from spectators. She spent 45 minutes roaming the grounds as startled visitors looked on. A concrete wall at one side of the exhibit was raised several inches, but Evelyn, 10, escaped again with Leonel’s help. The entire wall was then raised several more inches, and there have not been any more escapes, officials said.
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