Staff at a Japanese zoo staged an emergency drill on Tuesday simulating the recapture of an escaped zebra.
Onlookers took photographs as a zookeeper in a zebra costume tore down netted fences and pushed over a zookeeper before being enclosed by nets and “sedated.”
After removing the head of her zebra costume, zookeeper Yumi Tamura said the exercise had given her fresh insight into how to treat an escaping animal.
Get breaking National news
“Zebras are animals that panic easily, so when humans actually came close. I felt myself almost panicking as well. So next time, when I am on the catcher’s side, I’d like to keep that feeling in mind when dealing with animals,” she explained.
- Calgary area ‘very uniquely situated’ for study of hailstorms, says researcher
- Memorial tree at Saskatoon cemetery to be cut down due to invasive disease
- ‘Sovereignty comes with responsibility:’ U.S. lawmakers to Canada on wildfires
- Bow Glacier Falls Trail, site of two deaths in 2025 rock slide, reopens to hikers
-
![]()
Ontario wildfires: Residents evacuate devastated Collins First Nation as infrastructure wiped out -
![]()
Health alerts issused as wildfire smoke continues to blanket Peterborough region -
![]()
Northwestern Ontario wildfires burn buildings, trigger evacuations -
![]()
City of Calgary could approve more than 17 thousand new homes by 2030
A total of 150 zoo staff, and members of the police and fire departments participated in the biannual simulation at the Ueno Zoological Gardens in Tokyo.
The Ueno zoo has seen escaped animals in the past – including a panther, elephants and more recently monkeys.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.