Baboon on the Loose in New Jersey

Incredulous New Jersey citizens have been contacting the police with reports of a baboon wandering around Garden State highways.

He's traveling, said Sgt. Edward Bennett of the Jackson Township Police Department. It's a heavily wooded area.

Shortly after a man reported seeing the primate on I-95, a woman called the police to tell them there was a baboon sitting in her yard.

One theory is that the animal escaped from a nearby Six Flags, which houses about 150 baboons in its drive-through Wild Safari attraction. Park officials said it was unclear how one of the baboons could have escaped the high walls encircling their compound.

We have never had a situation like this before, Park Spokeswoman Kristen Siebeneicher said, adding that baboons are typically not aggressive toward people.

Baboons are indigenous to Africa and Arabia, and are known for carrying their young perched on their backs. In South Africa, residents of a wealthy Cape Town suburb have been terrorized by baboons that break into homes, steal food, and sometimes confront humans trying to scare them off.