Lemurs found roaming around neighbours' gardens after escape from Jersey Zoo

They may look cute, but five of these ring-tailed lemurs were recently discovered roaming around gardens in Jersey Credit: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

A group of five ring-tailed lemurs have been found after escaping from Jersey Zoo over the weekend.

They were discovered roaming around people's gardens in Trinity within a few hours of going missing.

The zoo says they escaped due to the trees around their enclosure moving during stormy weather on Saturday (18 June), allowing them to jump out and into the wild.

The zoo was quick to reassure islanders that there was never any risk to public safety.

A spokesperson for Durrell said: "Ring-tailed lemurs are not dangerous animals, and there was no risk to public safety. All lemurs were found in neighbouring gardens and within a few hours were safely returned by their keepers to the zoo, where they are being well cared for after their adventure! 

The animals had quite the adventure Credit: Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust

"The zoo’s expert team are trained to deal with scenarios like this and were able to catch the lemurs using food as bait. 

"This allowed the lemurs to jump to a neighbouring tree. The trees are being selectively pruned to prevent this from happening again."

The zoo has thanked islanders and honorary police who helped with the search.

Ring-tailed lemurs are usually found in Madagascar and are among the most endangered species in the world.