Woman Who Climbed Into Zoo Enclosure, Fed Spider Monkeys Hot Cheetos Fired

A plucky paralegal has been fired from her law firm after footage of her trespassing into an El Paso Zoo enclosure and attempting to feed Hot Cheetos to spider monkeys went viral online.

The woman has been identified as Lucy Rae, litigation assistant under Lovett Law Firm's personal injury division, Fox News reported.

In a statement posted to Facebook, Nora Artalejo Lovett shareholder of the Texas law firm confirmed that they have dismissed Rae following her reckless behavior. Additionally, Lovett expressed support and solidarity with the zoo facility and its animals.

"The firm has always been a strong supporter of animals and animal advocacy. We absolutely do not condone this irresponsible and reckless behavior. We support the El Paso Zoo, and our thoughts go out to the spider monkeys, Libby and Sunday, and hope that they will recover from this very traumatic experience," she said in the statement.

Rae's rash behavior has been slammed as "stupid" as it endangered the at-risk monkey's health to COVID-19 exposure. Feeding the spider monkeys Hot Cheetos can also prove to be a risk to their health, ABC7 noted.

“These are primates we're talking about, they could do some substantial damage to you,” Mason Kleist, a zookeeper at the El Paso Zoo said in an interview. “It takes years to build trust with these animals, and for someone to come in there for five minutes for a video on Instagram or whatever just ruins years of work.”

The zoo has formally filed a complaint against the woman. Rae may be tried for criminal misdemeanors as El Paso Zoo Director Joe Montisano plans on pressing charges.

Montisano described Rae as “stupid and lucky” in a statement.

In the viral video posted on Instagram, the woman can be seen sitting underneath a waterfall and attempting to feed Hot Cheetos to the spider monkeys after breaking into their pen.

According to El Paso Zoo's keepers, the monkeys showed in the video, named Libby and Sunday, are on a special diet. Rae's thoughtless behavior might have resulted in stomach problems and bowel disruptions for the endangered spider monkeys, the experts said.

According to National Geographic, spider monkeys eat fruits, nuts, bird eggs, leaves, and spiders. El Paso Zoo is planning to mend and raise the fence around the spider monkeys.