'Curious' Ben: St Louis Zoo under lockdown after 300-lb Andean bear breaks stainless steel bracket and escapes enclosure again
ST LOUIS, MISSOURI: 'Curious' bear named Ben broke out of his enclosure again this month, putting St Louis Zoo on lockdown now. The 300-pound Andean bear escaped its enclosure on Thursday afternoon, February 23, and the zoo officials had to enact their "emergency response protocol" following the escape.
The bear previously busted its enclosure on February 7 to wander around and the staff added new stainless steel brackets in an attempt to stop the 4-year-old bear from leaving again. However, during his second escape, Ben managed to break the stainless steel bracket, reported Daily Mail.
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When was Ben spotted escaping its enclosure?
Ben was first spotted escaping by a zoo visitor named Drew Wilson and his family who saw the bear wandering in a distant area before his escape. Talking to Fox2, Wilson said, "They showed up maybe two minutes later. The bear was very calm the whole time we saw him. Just looked like he was having fun."
Here are pictures of Ben, the 4-year-old Andean Bear who has now escaped his @STLZoo enclosure twice this month, including today.
— Alex Gaul (@AlexGaulTV) February 23, 2023
The zoo says Ben crawled through a mesh hole in his enclosure. He made it about 100 feet before being tranquilized about 50 minutes later. @KMOV pic.twitter.com/sPzXZVFc3X
While the bear was being searched, visitors were immediately moved to the zoo's several indoor facilities. An hour later, the massive animal was found relaxing by a river. Ben was then shifted to a different enclosure after he was tranquilized.
Ben the Bear's life in St Louis Zoo
Home to more than 16,000 animals, the St Louis Zoo, officially called the Saint Louis Zoological Park serves as a home to several animals including endangered ones. Four times a year, the zoo performs drills to prepare for active animal escape. Since July 2021, Ben had been an habitant of the Saint Louis Zoo following the zoo's Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Andean Bear Species Survival Plan.
The Andean Bear first made its escape on February 7 and was only found only half an hour later. The bear broke free after he loosened a cable when the steel mesh was fiddled by the bear. No other animals or staff members of the zoo were injured as the bear's escape took place before the national park was opened to the public.
According to the zoo's director, following Ben's first escape, officials at the zoo secured the enclosure with stainless steel clips with a tensile strength of 450 pounds which are used on cargo ships. However, the bear still managed to escape the space. Macek said, "We thought that would do it. We added the clips about every eight inches, but he still managed to tear some of them apart," and added that Ben is "just very curious," according to Daily Mail.
To secure the 'curious' bear's habitat, the National Park has planned to work with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Bear Taxon Advisory Group. With their facial markings, Andean bears are otherwise known as spectacled bears. According to conservationists, the population level of Andean bears is considered vulnerable. The Andes mountain natives found in South America, these bears eat some meat but mostly tend to follow a vegetarian diet.