Japanese zoo stages ‘zebra escape’ drill

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.