Zoo plunged into lockdown as bear escapes enclosure for second time this month

2023-03-06

Officials at a zoo have been left scratching their heads after being forced to put the place on lockdown twice in a month because of an escaping bear.

St Louis Zoo officials say they are working to find a way to keep an Andean bear named Ben inside his enclosure after he escaped on Thursday (February 23) for the second time this month.

The bear was outside for less than an hour and was found only about 100 feet away from his habitat, zoo officials said in a statement. The four-year-old bear, who weighs about 300lbs, was tranquillized and returned to the enclosure.

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However, visitors and zoo staff were kept inside zoo buildings during Ben’s escapade, which is the second time the zoo has been locked down this month because of him.

The bear first escaped on February 7 by tearing apart clips that were attached to the stainless steel mesh frame of the enclosure’s door.

However, just like the second time, he did not wander far and was outside for about 90 minutes before being returned.

In response, the zoo added stainless steel clips with 450lbs of tensile strength to the mesh – but that appeared to be of no challenge to the big strong bear, who managed to snap those clips with ease just two days ago.

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And now zoo officials have said that they are trying to work out an alternative way – or multiple ways – to secure the enclosure and will seek advice from the Association of Zoos and Aquarium's Bear Taxon Advisory Group.

News of the escape went down well on social media, with some claiming that he “just wanted to go and see Cocaine Bear at the cinema”.

Others suggested he should have a new name, such as Houdini, while many people started using the hashtag #FreeBen.

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