St Louis Zoo is put on lockdown after 300-pound Andean bear call Ben broke out of his enclosure for second time in a MONTH
- Ben the bear broke out of his habitat on Thursday around 1pm
- Visitors and staff were taken indoors as zoo officials searched for the bear
- He was found an hour later sitting peacefully by a river before being tranquilized
St Louis Zoo was put on lockdown after a 'curious' 300-pound Andean bear named Ben escaped his enclosure for the second time in a month.
Zoo officials enacted their 'emergency response protocol' after the four year-old bear busted out of his enclosure Thursday afternoon.
He previously went for a wander on February 7, and escaped a second time after managing to break new stainless steel brackets staff had added to try and stop Ben from getting out again.
Zoo visitor Drew Wilson and his family spotted Ben wandering across a path in the distance, and flagged his escape.
Wilson told Fox2: ' “We actually called it in,” said Drew Wilson, a zoo visitor. “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.”
Visitors at the staff at the zoo were swiftly taken to several indoor facilities as they searched for the massive animal.
Ben was found an hour later relaxing peacefully by a river before he was tranquilized and taken to a different enclosure.
Ben is pictured roaming a public footpath at St Louis Zoo on Thursday after his escape
Ben is pictured in his enclosure, prior to his latest escape. He also busted out on February 7, and has defied efforts to strengthen its security to stop him getting back out
One onlooker who saw Ben out and about said the bear appeared to be 'having fun'
St. Louis Zoo that is also called the Saint Louis Zoological Park is home to more than 16,000 animals, many of which are endangered.
The zoo performs active animal escape drills at least four times a year and were prepared when Ben escaped.
He had had been living at the Saint Louis Zoo since July of 2021 as part of their Association of Zoos and Aquariums' Andean Bear Species Survival Plan.
The Saint Louis Zoo that is also called the Saint Louis Zoological Park is home to more than 16,000 animals, many of which are endangered.
The zoo posted Ben's escape on Twitter crawling through a mesh hole and making it about about 100 feet before he was darted
The first time Ben escaped was on February 7 for about an hour and a half.
The cunning bear managed to free himself from his habitat after fiddling with some steel mesh that eventually loosened a cable, and allowed him to break free.
The incident took place before the zoo opened to the public and no animals or staff members were injured.
Zoo officials had since secured the space with stainless steel clips that are used on cargo ships that have a tensile strength of 450 pounds, but Ben still broke free, the zoo director 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,' Macek said.
He added: 'He's just very curious.'
The zoo is planning to work with the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Bear Taxon Advisory Group to help secure Ben's habitat.
Andean bears, also known as spectacled bears because of their facial markings, are native to the Andes mountains in South America.
They tend to stick to a vegetarian diet, but do eat some meat too, and their population level is considered vulnerable by conservationists.
