Those paying a visit to the St. Louis Zoo this past Thursday were shocked when the entire area was forced into lockdown.
4 years old at the time of the incident, Ben the bear was able to escape from where he was being held in the zoo at close to 1 p.m. local time. Fortunately, the escaping beat ended so corralled and tranquilized by the staff of the zoo and taken back to his enclosure. This kind of escape event marks the second of its kind in this path month.
“Zoo staff responded immediately and he’s now being transported back to his indoor holding area,” expressed Billy Brennan, a spokesman for the St. Louis Zoo, to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, by about 1:45 p.m. “Guests and staff are safe and inside buildings at this time. We expect to have the ‘all clear’ shortly and operate normally.”
A report from the Post-Dispatch explained that the zoo issued the call of “all clear” after a period of five minutes. A number of guests, who had been pushed to take shelter within the zoo’s primate house and herpetarium, were released to continue their walks around the school.
This event marks the second time this month that Ben has managed to escape his enclosure. The first time, back on the 7th of February, Ben was able to break open the metal mesh surrounding his enclosure and wiggle his way out. He was found just outside of his pen at roughly 8 a.m. local time and ended up being recaptured at close to 9:40 A.M. “It would appear that the very curious bear meddled with the steel mesh in just the right spot of the outdoor habitat, causing a cable to give way, which then allowed the bear to work his way out,” the zoo stated via a post to social media at the time, via the Post-Dispatch. “Team members will continue to inspect his habitat and make decisions to make it even more secure than it is now.”
In the wake of the first escape fiasco, employees for the zoo reinforced the area with stainless steel ties — normally utilized as a means to secure cargo to overseas freighter ships — that sport 450 pounds of tensile strength to the enclosure. “We thought they would work, but he managed to snap the clips again,” stated Michael Macek, the St. Louis Zoo director. “We’re obviously looking at other methods to secure the mesh to the frame.”
