The publicity sparked by Sami's two escape attempts prompted calls for infrastructure improvements to the Belgrade Zoo, leading to the construction of a new gate and several new enclosures.

Upon his arrival, he was placed in a cramped, dilapidated enclosure with a reinforced grid which was nominally capable of containing an adult chimpanzee.

At the time, a single chimpanzee cost around $10,000 ($22,231 in 2025), and zoo officials stated they could not afford to buy Sami a companion.

He was spotted in front of the JNA Hall and then appeared outside the Balkan Cinema, causing widespread panic among the passersby, before heading towards the Terazije Tunnel, cautiously pursued by around a dozen police vehicles.

[2] At 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 23 February 1988, Sami managed to escape once more, breaking out of his cage and entering the zoo's cafeteria, where several staff members were having breakfast.

The factory workers then chased Sami to a courtyard at 33 Tsar Dušan Street, where he climbed atop a cherry tree and eventually a garage.

"[2] Bojović climbed atop the garage and attempted to persuade Sami to return to the zoo with him, this time unsuccessfully.

[4]: 286  The scholar Ron Broglio writes: Sami's escape invoked fellow feeling among humans who identified with his confinement.

The animal was not complying with its prescribed place in the social system, and this line of flight ignited desires just below the surface of Belgrade's citizens.

[6] Bojović exploited the publicity surrounding Sami's escape attempts to underscore the need for further investment in the zoo, which led to the construction of a new gate and several new enclosures.

[4]: 286 Sami is alluded to in Emir Kusturica's award-winning 1995 film Underground, which features a chimpanzee named Soni, who survives the German bombing of the Belgrade Zoo during the Axis invasion of Yugoslavia in April 1941.

[4]: 285  Sami's escape attempts also served as the inspiration for the Macedonian filmmaker Vladimir Blaževski's 2018 film Year of the Monkey.