Bear’s Brief Escape Startles Zoo Visitors

A 100-pound sun bear, described by zoo officials as the “meanest of the bears, pound for pound,” virtually escaped from its exhibit at the San Diego Zoo, sending some zoo-goers running in fear and attracting others even closer to it for snapshots.

“Some people didn’t realize how dangerous the situation was and tried to get within five feet of the bear,” said zoo spokesman Jeff Jouett said Monday. “If they think that bear’s cute, they’re really flirting with disaster.”

The bear, a female known as Muffin who is nearly two years old, was netted and pushed back into its moat Sunday as other zoo personnel tried to keep spectators away. There were no injuries.

The animal was one of five sun bears in a recently opened exhibit where a large, fallen eucalyptus branch had been placed. Apparently one or more of the animals maneuvered the 20- to 25-foot-long branch across the 15-foot-wide moat, and Muffin then climbed across the bridge at about 5 p.m. Sunday.

Bear on Spectator Side

The bear found itself on the spectator side of the moat, separated from the viewing sidewalk only by a three-strand wire fence intended to keep children from approaching the moat.

One of the animal keepers at the zoo, Pam Cox, was the first at the scene and placed herself between the bear and a growing number of spectators and radioed for help, Jouett said.

Within three minutes other personnel arrived with a net, but more spectators converged on the scene as well, Jouett said.

“Pam was yelling at people to move back, but some kept moving in even closer for pictures,” he said. “This is how people get hurt at Yellowstone.”

People Were Running Away

One of the spectators was Jerry Biddle, who brought his wife and 9-year-old daughter from El Toro for a day at the zoo. He said he was more aware of people running from the scene than those closing in for a closer view.

“People were running away in all directions,” he said. “The zoo people had a lot of panic in their voice, and were pointing in different directions for people to run.”

During the incident, the bear seemed distracted, Jouett said. “It looked confused and like she wasn’t sure what to do,” he said of Muffin.

After help arrived, a net was thrown over the bear and Cox pushed the animal into the moat, which is designed in such a way that the bears can climb into it from their side of the enclosure but cannot climb out of it on the spectator side, because of the way it is banked, beneath and out of view of the spectators.

Another keeper ran behind the exhibit and rattled the doors of the enclosure, luring all five bears into their bedroom areas because they thought it was feeding time, Jouett said.

Second Thoughts on Branches

He said the zoo will reevaluate the landscaping of the enclosure, and likely anchor branches that, in retrospect, can be turned into bridges.

“Either sun bears are smarter than the average bear, or our design team is not,” Jouett quipped.