Community Chat

[KingstonsMom]

Flamin' stupid! Woman loses her law firm job for climbing fence at El Paso Zoo and feeding Hot Cheetos to a spider monkey

• Lucy Rae, who was a litigation assistant, has been identified as the woman
• Footage was taken this weekend and posted on an Instagram account
• In the video, Rae can allegedly be seen getting up close and personal with two of the spider monkeys at the El Paso Zoo, Libby and Sunday
• The woman can also be seen feeding Hot Cheetos to the spider monkeys
• Since the footage went viral, she has been identified by the law firm where she used to work before getting fired in the wake of the video
• The zoo is also moving forward on pressing charges against the woman  

A 'stupid' woman who was caught on video jumping over a barrier to feed Hot Cheetos to spider monkeys in a zoo enclosure is now facing possible criminal charges.  

Since the footage went viral, she has been identified by the Texas law firm where she used to work as a paralegal - before getting fired in light of the video.

Losing her job may end up being just the beginning of her woes, as the El Paso Zoo is also pressing charges against the woman, an official there says.

Lucy Rae, who was a litigation assistant, has been identified by ABC-7 as the woman behind the barrier at the zoo in footage taken sometime over the weekend and posted by Fit Fam El Paso to Instagram on Sunday.

In the video, Rae, whose age hasn't been made public, can be seen getting up-close-and-personal with two of the spider monkeys at the El Paso Zoo, Libby and Sunday.

She can also be seen feeding something to the spider monkeys, which has been identified as Hot Cheetos.

'She was attempting to feed them Hot Cheetos, [but], it is still unclear if they actually ate any,' Joe Montisano, director of the zoo, told Newsweek. 'From the video, they were more disturbed with her being there than concerned with the food,' he said of the monkeys.

At the end of the video, someone in a blue shirt helps pull her out of the enclosure, though that person has not been identified.

Spider monkeys are typically between 14-26 inches long and around 13.25 pounds, according to National Geographic. It's not clear the exact size of these monkeys. They are 'usually agitated by human contact,' NatGeo says. They can become violent toward humans, according experts at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium in Ohio.

Staff at the El Paso Zoo were not aware of what had taken place until seeing the video after the fact.  

Montisano called the woman both 'stupid and lucky' in comments to ABC-7.

'This young lady decided to hop a fence, climb through some bushes, drop down into a four-feet deep moat, walk across the moat and then try to feed the spider monkeys,' Montisano elaborated to the El Paso Times. 

In addition to putting herself at risk, Rae also endangered the monkeys by changing their diet and potentially exposing them to COVID-19.

Woman facing charges after she hopped over barrier fence at El Paso Zoo's spider monkey enclosure | ...

[Lucky Charm]

Honestly, they didn't need to put stupid in quotes.  

[Icegoddess]

So, who's the guy in the white shirt watching her in the pic?  Looks like he is in the enclosure too.  The article says someone in a blue shirt pulled her away.

Idiotic thing to do.  

[Sooner]

I would never try to feed them Hot Cheetos!  They are too good and I'd eat them all.

And I would not want to be in a monkey cage ever.  That's asking for trouble.  

What is wrong with people!  

[candyagain]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

Honestly, they didn't need to put stupid in quotes.  

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Probably could substitute "high as a kite" for accuracy....

[KKJ]

Idiot is right,  and I bet she'd be the first to sue the zoo if the monkeys attacked her.

[ECBG]

I hope all abusers are put UNDER the jail!!!!

[Porcelain]

Seems like a publicity stunt for Fit Fam. Whatever that is.

[ValuSkr]

She probably wanted a fun video for IG or TikTok.

But, unfortunately, she didn't think the escapade all the way through.

[jellyBEAN]

Don't human beings have sense anymore?  I hope she gets the book thrown at her for potential damage done to the harmless animals kept at the zoo.

If she wants to munch on ****** that's her choice, monkeys are frugivores and I hate to think what processed junk food with no nutritional value WHATSOEVER, would do to their little bodies.

Seems like the world has gone nutso imo.