SAN ANTONIO — Dawkins, the rhesus macaque that caused quite a scene at the San Antonio International Airport, is settling into his new home.

On Monday, the primate escaped from his kennel at the San Antonio International Airport.

"The San Antonio Airport said 'Hey, we have a strange situation here. A primate has gotten out and he's in our baggage area, would you help us?’" Chuck Cureau of the San Antonio Zoo said.

Veterinarians and other experts from the Zoo were called in to help contain the 10-year-old monkey after he broke out of his crate.

"We typically don't have to do this but yesterday we were monkeying around at the airport," he said. 　

Dawkins eventually made it to his final destination, a 180-acre sanctuary in Cotulla, where he's already being himself.

"He's exploring," said Prashant Khetan of Born Free USA, the wildlife conservation group that runs the sanctuary.  

The short-term goal is to slowly get Dawkins accustomed to his new environment.

"We will start him out in an enclosure by himself where he will be able to touch ground for the first time,” he said. “He will hear sounds of other primates."　

Sanctuary officials said he's done a good job so far. They hope Dawkins will soon start to bond with the other primates.

Officials say the community's support for Dawkins is heartwarming.

"We've been overwhelmed by the support we've gotten just from people on social media, and everyone's concered with how Dawkins is doing, and we're talking more about how is Dawkins doing and his future rather than his past," Khetan said.　

The sanctuary hopes his story will stir more interest in protecting wildlife. Dawkins is one of 500 to 550 monkeys to call the sanctuary home, all of whom are rescues.

"We had two primates we took in who are also rhesus macaques two weeks ago," said Khetan.　

While what happened at the airport shouldn't have happened at all, wildlife advocates hope maybe Monday's monkey business will help put a face on a bigger cause.

The nonprofit sanctuary has been around for more than 50 years but isn't open to the public because the animals there live as freely as possible.

If you'd like to find out more about Born Free USA, click here.