A man dressed as a zebra is surrounded by zookeepers during a drill to practice what to do in the event of an animal escape at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo.
A zebra “escaped” from its enclosure in a Japanese zoo yesterday, giving one zookeeper a heart attack and injuring another – at least that was the scenario of a drill aimed at dealing with runaway animals.
The zebra – actually a zoo staff member dressed up in a furry suit – supposedly bolted from a cage at Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo after an earthquake destroyed its enclosure.
It then wandered around the zoo before ramming into a wall and sending a keeper to hospital with a heart attack.
After injuring another keeper, the zebra was subdued with a fake stun gun and bundled onto a nearby pick-up truck, as curious zoo visitors looked on, laughing and taking photos.
“The zebra is an animal that easily panics,” said 27-year-old Yumi Tamura, who dressed as the zebra but usually cares for gorillas and monkeys.
“I myself felt panicky when acting it out,” she told reporters.
Past simulations at Tokyo’s city-run zoos have featured faux gorillas, rhinos, lions and orangutans.
