Trio of baboons who escaped at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital spark NSW Parliamentary Inquiry

The brazen baboon trio’s escape, which brought the city to a halt in 2020, has now led to a major political inquiry in the NSW Parliament.

Two years after Sydney went bananas over the inner city escape of three baboons, a new chapter to their thrilling tale has been added.

The trio of primates, whose brazen breakout while in transit to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Camperdown brought the city grinding to a halt, are now the cause of a Parliamentary Inquiry.

Submissions are currently open into the probe, which will analyse the role of primates and other animals in medical research in NSW, and whether there are viable alternatives.

The simians during their brazen escape at Sydney's RPA Hospital in 2020. Picture: Seven News

“There’s no question that put it on the radar,” chair of the inquiry, Labor MP Greg Donnelly, told The Daily Telegraph of the three monkeys’ contribution to the investigation being formed.

“That caught the eye of the public and people started asking, ‘what’s the purpose of the research, what’s being done?’ ”

The three medical research baboons had been sent to the hospital so the male, accompanied by two females to provide a calming influence, could undergo a vasectomy.

But the opportune primates made a swift escape when the lock on their cage failed, leading to extraordinary sights as the trio bolted for several hours around the hospital campus before being sedated.

The baboons casually strolled around the Camperdown Hospital for some time. Picture: Seven News

The male (left) and the two females after their recapture.

Mr Donnelly said the their escape, alongside growing public interest in the live export trade and the welfare of horses and greyhounds in the racing industry, had led to the establishment of the inquiry.

“I’m very determined it’ll be a considered and balanced inquiry that’s going to look at the issues and come to it’s own conclusions and recommendations,” he said.

“There needs to be a full understanding of experimentation on animals, which is something that has been undertaken for a very long time and has produced a number of important and significant discoveries.

“(But) are there new or emerging techniques or ways of going about medical research and if they exist, could they be used as a substitute for experimenting on animals?”

Animal Justice Party MP Emma Hurst, who will sit on the inquiry, said she wouldn’t be surprised if “cruel and unscientific experiments come to light during this inquiry”.

“Medical experimentation is the most hidden of all animal-use industries. There is a total lack of transparency in an effort to avoid public scrutiny,” she said.

The inquiry will hold hearings in coming months, with a report to be tabled to parliament following that.