There have been plenty of children’s stories about animals breaking out of zoos. But at one zoo in Northern California, a young black bear broke in.
That’s what happened last week at Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka, Calif., when a zoo employee found a wild black bear standing with its nose pressed against the fencing of an enclosure, prompting a response by police and state authorities. It also left officials at California’s oldest zoo with a mystery about why a bear came in from the wild, introduced itself to the zoo’s bears and played with their toys, before being shown the exit.
“Overall, he was a very polite visitor,” Christine Noel, a zoo supervisor, said in a statement. “He stayed on the boardwalk path, kept two feet on the ground and didn’t try to climb over the railings!”
Ms. Noel was inspecting the zoo’s Redwood Sky Walk, an elevated path about 100-feet high that meanders among the state’s famous redwood trees on Friday morning when she spotted an unknown American black bear “interacting” with Tule, Ishŭng and Kunabulilh, the zoo’s own black bears, through their enclosure’s fencing.
“I recognized right away that it was not one of ours,” she said.
Emergency procedures were initiated by the staff, who routinely hold safety drills on a range of scenarios for what could go wrong in a zoo that houses 150 animals. But the scenario of a bear visiting by choice was admittedly a surprise.
“Is this a drill?” an employee asked over the radio, seeking clarification while racing to the scene.
Officers from the Eureka Police Department responded to keep visitors safe.
“It’s not every day we find ourselves helping with crowd control for a bear who doesn’t quite understand ‘stay behind the railings,’” the police said on Facebook.
The bear did not come into contact with any human visitors.
The intruder, about 1.5 years old and possibly a female, was going “nose-to-nose” with the other bears, one at a time, through the fencing of their habitats, in “polite introductions,” Jim Campbell-Spickler, the zoo’s director, said in an interview on Tuesday.
It batted around their toys, he said. Then, with the help of a California Department of Fish and Wildlife warden, the bear was eventually coaxed through a service gate and back into the wilds of Sequoia Park.
Officials have no idea how the bear breached the zoo’s perimeter fence, which is intact, about eight feet high and topped with barbed wire. It was the first time a bear has entered the zoo on its own, although there have been appearances by other wild animals such as skunks and raccoons.
Mr. Campbell-Spickler said that the bear might have climbed a tree to drop down and gain entry and then found itself with no escape route.
“What we do know is that our perimeter fence is secure,” Mr. Campbell-Spickler said. “The truth is we live adjacent to a beautiful 67-acre redwood forest that is very wild.”
The news set off lively online chatter: Some of the zoo’s fans speculated on its Facebook page that maybe the bear was looking for snacks, adventure or friends.
Zoo fans reported having previously seen bear scat on the paved trails near the bear enclosure and questioned whether it was not, in fact, the first intrusion of its kind.
Many couldn’t resist a pun.
“He was looking for an application… He wanted to be an ambearssador!” wrote one Facebook user.
“He must’ve put the wrong date on his calendar for Okto-BEAR-fest,” said another.
Amateur zoological detective work ensued. One man posted a photograph of a bear in a nearby tree, suggesting a breach from above.
Mr. Campbell-Spickler said he believed the bear intended to meet the others. “At this age, it is common for them to leave their mothers and start to venture out on their own,” he said. “They are curious and hungry and starting to find a place in the world.”
Perhaps, the police said in their Facebook post, the bear was “hoping to apply for a membership” at the zoo.
Christine Hauser is a Times reporter who writes breaking news stories, features and explainers.
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