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Four Jackson residents have now reported seeing a baboon in their town. Above, a male baboon shows off his canine teeth in South Africa in this file photo.
JACKSON — Two Jackson residents reported backyard baboon sightings this morning, the third and fourth in a series, police said.
A woman reported seeing a baboon climb over her neighbor's fence on Winterberry Boulevard. in Jackson around 10 a.m. today and a second caller reported seeing the animal in their Buttonwood Drive backyard an hour later, said Sgt. Edward Bennett of the Jackson Police Department.
Police told the Asbury Park Press that a baboon was spotted in a full run down Oakwood Drive at 12:20 p.m. today, heading east.
The baboon was first spotted at 2 p.m. Thursday sitting on the east side of Interstate 195 near Exit 16. A second call came into police 20 minutes later from a young woman on Anderson Road who said the baboon was sitting on her back porch.
The location of both sightings are near Monkey Jungle at Six Flags Great Adventure Wild Safari. Park officials and police searched for the baboon Thursday but called off the search by late afternoon.
Great Adventure informed the state Department of Environmental Protection Thursday that they might have a missing baboon, said department spokesman Lawrence Ragonese.
State inspectors visit Great Adventure several times a year to inspect the park and survey the animals. There have never been any problems or animal escapes, Ragonese said.
"We really haven't had any problems with them," Ragonese said. "They've been really good neighbors."
Though Great Adventure holds a zoological permit from the state, the park is not required to know exactly how many baboons it has inside its fences, Ragonese said. State officials declined to speculate on if or how Great Adventure would be reprimanded if one of the park's animals escaped.
Jackson police and a Great Adventure response team are surveying the areas around the reported spotting, about a one mile radius, again today. Bennett said police will rely on Great Adventure expertise on how to catch the animal if they find it.
"They'll probably sedate it and then take it in," Bennett said.
"We've been made aware that a few residents of Jackson contacted the Jackson Police about an animal sighting today," said Great Adventure Communications Director Kristin Siebeneicher. "We're taking any claim seriously and are providing support to Jackson Police to attempt to validate the authenticity of any sighting."
This is the first baboon sighting Bennett recalls in Jackson. "We've had sightings of other exotic animals. We had a tiger sighting several years ago. It was captured and killed, so it's not something our department is unfamiliar with, but we've never had a baboon."
The baboon is gaining a following online this morning after a Twitter page was created using the name @JerseyBaboon.
Bennett said anyone who spots the animal should not approach it but should call police immediately at 732-928-1111.
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