Grizzly bear escapes enclosure at Calgary Zoo

Grizzly bear escapes enclosure at Calgary Zoo

Zoo says bear was returned to enclosure without any injuries to people or animals

One of the Calgary Zoo's grizzly bears spent some time on the other side of his enclosure.

A spokesperson for the Wilder Institute's Calgary Zoo told CBC News one-year-old grizzly bear Fitz "exited his habitat" at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday morning.

"Established emergency response procedures were immediately activated," communications manager Cindy Antonello said in a statement.

The zoo's animal care and security teams responded, along with the Calgary Police Service.

"Fitz was successfully immobilized, and our [animal care] team safely relocated him to his back-of-house space," Antonello said. "There were no injuries to guests, staff, volunteers or animals."

Grizzly cub brothers make zoo debut

Antonello said the incident happened before the zoo opened to the public, but the Wild Canada area where the zoo's bears are housed "remained temporarily closed while our teams completed a full assessment of the area" before reopening in the afternoon.

"Our teams will be reviewing the circumstances of the incident as part of our established post-incident procedures. We do not have any further information to share at this time," she said.

The Calgary Zoo's difficult history with polar bears

Calgary Police Service Staff Sgt. John Guigon says there was no danger to the public during the incident.

"The grizzly bear got out, took a little walk around the zoo, sat down and was tranquilized by members of the the zoo," he said.

Guigon says police officers responded to the scene but remained on standby while the zoo handled the incident.

"I'm sure they were concerned given it's a grizzly bear and what they are capable of doing, but the bear didn't seem interested in doing much more than just having an adventure," he said.

Fitz and his brother Turner were brought to the zoo as cubs last fall after their mother was killed by a hunter in self-defence near Diamond Valley, southwest of Calgary.

Amir Said is a multimedia journalist with CBC Calgary. He is an alumnus of the University of Regina, and his award-winning work as a writer and photographer has been published by outlets across Canada, including Postmedia, The Hill Times and The Narwhal. Amir can be reached at amir.said@cbc.ca or through social media.