Hiroshima Zoo Holds Drill for Bear Escape Scenario: About 20, Including Staff Wearing Bear Costume, Participate

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:03 JST, January 29, 2024

Asa Zoological Park in Hiroshima held a drill with the scenario that an Asian black bear had escaped, with about 20 staff members and vets participating, on Sunday.

The annual drill is open to public around this time of year to advise park visitors of safety measures to be taken when a ferocious animal escapes from a cage. This year, a staff member wearing a bear costume ran around inside the park on the assumption an earthquake had occurred, and a male bear had walked on a fallen tree to the outside of its cage.

While many visitors were watching, drill participants used barricades to corner the bear, and followed the procedure for such a scenario including where vets fire an anesthetic gun to capture the animal.