An Andean spectacled bear escaped from its enclosure in Berlin zoo and roamed around a children’s playground -- the second breakout since June, when a gorilla leapt over its fence, the zoo’s deputy director said on Monday.
“There was no panic among visitors and no real danger,” when Juan hauled himself over a wall and made for the carousel, said Heiner Kloes, “but I was alarmed at how some fathers were too busy filming the bear to check where their children were.”
Staff shot anaesthetic darts at the 110 kilo (242 lb) bear to knock him out and are now reviewing zoo security. “Spectacled bears eat both vegetables and meat but children tend not to be on their menu,” Kloes said. “I’d have been a lot more worried if one of our polar bears had escaped.”
