ATLANTA -- A 14-year-old orangutan got loose at Zoo Atlanta Sunday for less than an hour before workers tranquilized the animal and returned him to his habitat.

He got loose about 2:43 p.m. and roamed no farther than 100 feet from the exhibit. Dennis Kelly, president and CEO of the zoo, said no one was injured.

Robin Haynie was visiting the zoo with several children when the orangutan escaped.

"Two feet from us was this big, beatiful, red orangutan and just being as peaceful as could be," she said.

Zoo officials said the animal somehow crossed a 14-foot deep, dry moat and topped a wooden fence.

Zoo visitors were kept in the reptile house for about 40 minutes.

"I wasn't really scared, but I kept thinking 'what's going to happen'" said 12-year-old Zoo visitor Gianna Perrone.

Once a worker put the animal, Sulango, to sleep, he was taken back to his habitat at 3:20 p.m.