Escaped pet monkey attacks woman outside her home in Oklahoma:

A woman is recovering from serious injuries after being attacked by a monkey outside her home in southern Oklahoma on Sunday, authorities said.

The woman, Brittany Parker, told the CBS affiliate KXII That she was inside the house when she saw the animal on her front porch. Parker said she initially called family members to show them the unexpected visitor.

“I actually FaceTimed some family and I was like, ‘Look there’s a monkey,'” she told KXII, which aired video footage of the primate climbing outdoor furniture at Parker’s home. was “He was backing away and then he was jumping over my railing and hitting my storm door.”

Parker said the animal tore off part of the door handle, prompting her to call 911, KXII reported. Officers from the Dixon Police Department, along with game wardens from the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife, arrived to find the monkey on the porch, the police department said in a statement. News release. But, as the officers got out of their patrol car, they say the animal ran toward them and “jumped out of the back of the car.”

Parker told KXII she could see the interaction between the officers and the monkey from inside her home, and recalled thinking the animal was being friendly, so she stepped outside with her son.

“The monkey then ran toward the victim and mounted him,” the Dixon Police Department said. Parker told KXII the animal pulled out his hair before attacking his right ear, severely injuring him.

“He crawled up my back, pulled out multiple clumps of hair and then cut my ear in half,” Parker said. “It was just hanging.”

He was initially taken to a local emergency room before being transported to the University of Oklahoma Medical Center, about 100 miles away in Oklahoma City, for treatment, police said. Parker said her doctors were concerned about whether she might suffer hearing loss even though the ear is on the mend.

After the attack, police said the monkey ran into a wooded area and officers tracked it down. As they continued to search for the animal, additional officers located and contacted the monkey’s owners, who attempted to capture it themselves but were unsuccessful, police said. The animal was eventually shot and killed by a Parker family member, and its carcass was sent to the Oklahoma Disease Laboratory for testing. Police say that investigation into the attack is ongoing.

Although Oklahoma laws do not prohibit residents from owning most exotic animals. There are rules To own some local breeds of bears and cats. Still, Dixon Police Chief Tim Duncan said after two decades with the department, Sunday’s call was his first involving a loose monkey.

“This is Oklahoma. It happens. We get animal calls all the time,” he told KXII. “Monkeys are not common to us.”

Because Parker was “so badly injured,” the police chief said his department will forward the case report to the district attorney’s office, “and from there, they will make a final decision on what they want to do with the case.” “