Wild black bear climbs tree at Alaska Zoo, hangs out for hours

The Alaska Zoo temporarily gained an extra animal Wednesday when a wild black bear strayed onto the zoo’s property and temporarily kept it from opening to the public.

The bear spent its time in a tree at the back of the zoo near the tigers, a zoo official said, leading keepers to put all the zoo’s animals back into their dens.

The bear appeared to be about 2 years old, officials said, and may have recently been pushed away by its mother.

According to Patrick Lampi, executive director of the zoo, the bear was spotted early in the morning by the night watchman, when it went up a tree.

Although no injuries were reported, Marsh said the zoo was evacuated by order of its owners.

Myer told the news site, “The tigers were very excited about the new resident. And the wolves were very curious”, Myer said. “It is best to let the bear come down when it is ready”.

Zoo visitors were turned away at the main entrance while the wild bear was inside. “We had staff, in teams, come from different directions, leaving it an open trail to a back gate where we had a person stationed in a truck so they could close the gate”. Early reports of an evacuation were inaccurate.

Myer recalled a similar incident that happened years before.

What do you think about the Alaska Zoo’s unexpected visitor?