Bear ‘decided zoo life had become unbearable’ and tries to escape, Kansas officials say

A “misbehaving” bear tried escaping from her enclosure at a zoo, causing an evacuation as zookeepers worked to coax her back in, officials say.

The city of Independence said staff at Ralph Mitchell Zoo noticed the attempted escape of one of its Siberian bear sisters Sunday, June 9. The zoo has three bears — Samara, Amalia and Malika — who arrived at the facility in 2016.

One of them, according to the city, “apparently decided zoo life had become unbearable and made an unsuccessful attempt to tunnel out of her enclosure.”

The bear dug under her viewing platform’s enclosure and briefly slipped out of sight from zookeepers, officials said.

Within five minutes of zookeepers noticing the attempted escape, the zoo was evacuated of all visitors. Then, staff members worked to coax the bear back into her enclosure.

The bear was safely in her enclosure a few minutes later, the zoo said.

Zoo workers plan to make modifications to the enclosure to ensure another breakout attempt does not occur, the city said.

City officials thanked zoo staff and police for averting danger.

“Thanks to everyone for bearing with us through this situation,” the zoo said in a Facebook post.

Independence is about a 115-mile drive southeast from Wichita.

This story was originally published June 10, 2024 at 6:05 AM with the headline "Bear ‘decided zoo life had become unbearable’ and tries to escape, Kansas officials say."