--- description: It took multiple police and zookeepers over two hours to catch Cha Cha title: Escaped Chimpanzee Prompts Wild Chase Through Japanese City image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9563869a4d6d6fc/69888f2ba988caba7b6b76b9/chimpanzee-sendai-escape-chase.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Escaped Chimpanzee Prompts Wild Chase Through Japanese City  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 14, 2016 4:07 PM CUT  Cha Cha the chimpanzee screams at a man trying to capture him on power lines in a residential area of the northeastern Japan city of Sendai on April 14, 2016. Cha Cha the chimpanzee screams at a man trying to capture him on power lines in a residential area of the northeastern Japan city of Sendai on April 14, 2016.Kyodo/AP  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 14, 2016 4:07 PM CUT When Cha Cha the chimpanzee [made a break for it](http://abcnews.go.com/International/chimpanzee-escapes-zoo-japan-leads-police-dramatic-hour/story "undefined"), it took Sendai, Japan police and Yagiyama Zoological Park staff two hours to track him down. Cha Cha proved his evasion abilities when he escaped not only from his own area, but from the entire zoo — and then led authorities on a wild chimp chase through a residential area. Eventually, his followers sedated him with a tranquilizer gun after he climbed a telephone pole and went onto the wires, ABC News reports. The director of the park was very apologetic to residents who may have been disturbed by the containment efforts. There is an investigation underway into just how Cha Cha got out of the park. \[[_ABC_](http://abcnews.go.com/International/chimpanzee-escapes-zoo-japan-leads-police-dramatic-hour/story "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4294015/chimpanzee-chase-sendai-cha-cha/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4294015/chimpanzee-chase-sendai-cha-cha/"},"headline":"Escaped Chimpanzee Prompts Wild Chase Through Japanese City","datePublished":"2016-04-14T16:07:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:45:21.975Z","description":"It took multiple police and zookeepers over two hours to catch Cha Cha","url":"https://time.com/4294015/chimpanzee-chase-sendai-cha-cha/","keywords":["animals","Japan"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9563869a4d6d6fc/69888f2ba988caba7b6b76b9/chimpanzee-sendai-escape-chase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc9563869a4d6d6fc/69888f2ba988caba7b6b76b9/chimpanzee-sendai-escape-chase.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Cha Cha the chimp escapes","caption":"Cha Cha the chimp escapes","creditText":"Kyodo/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4294015/chimpanzee-chase-sendai-cha-cha/","name":"Escaped Chimpanzee Prompts Wild Chase Through Japanese City"}}]}] ```