Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 7 (IANS): Enticed with fruits, a female gray langur that had escaped the zoo here 23 days ago, was finally trapped and brought back.

Since the monkey appears to be in good health, the zoo authorities on Friday morning decided to keep it in the cage for a few more days.

Decision to release it into the open zoo enclosure will be taken after a few days of close monitoring.

This female monkey was brought from Tirupati last month along with a male and during a trial run to relocate the pair at the zoo on June 13, the female escaped.

When several attempts to lure it back failed, the zoo authorities posted two staff to keep a watch on the monkey which was hanging around the zoo complex.

After a few days, the two managed to make friends with the semian as they were providing food at regular intervals.

On Thursday evening, about 4 kms from the zoo, the monkey was spotted at a German learning centre and the two staff members enticed it with a bunch of fruits into a room.

Soon the monkey came down and entered the room through the window, not knowing that it was a trap.

As soon as it entered the room, the two staff members closed the window and very soon, the monkey was trapped in a net.

After safely securing the monkey , it was taken to the zoo and put in a cage.

The zoo authorities have decided to keep the monkey for a few more days under close observation to ensure that she has developed no health issues after 23 days of freedom.