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Topics: Animals, Social Media, Twitter, US News
Poppy Bilderbeck
CCTV has captured the horrifying moment a zookeeper had a near-miss with a grizzly bear.
Being a zookeeper is no easy feat. Not only do you have to know the ins and outs of taking care of some of the world's most impressive and endangered animals, but you also have to know how to cope should you ever find yourself being chased round an enclosure by a gorilla or even a grizzly bear.
The San Francisco Chronicle has recently uncovered an incident which took place between a keeper and an animal from May 2023.
The outlet revealed a zookeeper in San Francisco Zoo came face-to-face with a brown grizzly bear named Kiona after thinking he'd locked the door but not realising its lock could allegedly be fastened without being fully shut.
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So, stood in the keeper area, the keeper heard footsteps and turned around expecting to see his colleague, but instead found a 500-pound bear eyeing him up.
A CCTV recording from the time of the incident shows the moment Kiona wandered through to the keeper area and then the moment the keeper can be spotted dashing away - a pair of sprinting legs just about visible passing through the doorway.
Thankfully, after a lap around the grotto, the keeper reportedly managed to get to a safe area, leaving the bear back in the keeper area.
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Kiona was later encouraged back to her bear lair and the locks properly secured after other keepers came to the scene to help out the understandably shaken first employee.
It's reported the bear was never at risk of going near visitors as a result of a gate, regular door and chain-link barrier standing in her way.
No one was hurt in the incident, but the assistant curator of the zoo's carnivore department at the time, Travis Shields, who also oversaw the bear department, told the Chronicle: "Eventually something more severe is going to happen in the future if they continue on the same path."
A board member of the nonprofit membership organization that helps operate the zoo for the city - San Francisco Zoological Society - named Edward Poole has since responded to claims.
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Poole said: "One of our zookeepers entered the grizzly bear’s habitat area at a time when it was believed that the bear was restricted to another part of its containment area.
"Due to a number of safety measures employed, the situation was quickly resolved. This incident underscores our steadfast commitment to ensuring the welfare of both our staff and the animals in our care."
Zookeeper logs also documented the locks on the bear's enclosure as being updated soon after the incident.
A spokesperson from San Francisco Zoo told UNILAD: "On May 13th, 2023, due to a miscommunication, one of our zookeepers was in the Grizzly bear's habitat area at a time when it was believed that the bear was restricted to another part of its containment area. This was quickly rectified without injuries to the zookeeper or the bear. At no time did the Grizzly Bear escape.
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"We are confident about our staff and animal safety measures. The San Francisco Zoo conducts several safety drills per year and attends industry-wide meetings to continuously improve our safety protocols. We have a buddy system and other safety protocols where potentially dangerous animals reside, which our animal management team reviews so we can constantly update our protocols."