Zoo animal escapes happen rarely, about five times a year on average over the last five years, said Rob Vernon, spokesman for the Association of Zoos & Aquariums, which represents and accredits 213 zoos and aquariums in 47 states.
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Four African long-tailed shrikes escaped from an aviary at the Minnesota Zoo last summer when a worker inadvertently left open a door to the enclosure. The previous year the zoo lost a Eurasian eagle owl that escaped its enclosure. It was later found dead along a roadside.
Zoos have contributed animals toward releases of only 14% (40) of all animal species featured in published con- servation translocations, and 25% of translocated species sourced from captive-bred populations, and this propor- tion has not changed significantly over time (r = 0.229; p = 0.135).
Escaped animal proceduresWhen an animal escapes, guests are immediately evacuated from the area and escorted to secured buildings on zoo grounds by the zoo's emergency response team (veterinarians armed with tranquilizer equipment, zoo firearms team and animal management staff).
Open source information points to a combination of 12 gauge shotguns and high-powered rifles being on hand at most major zoos. From a story in the St Petersburg Times: The team armed themselves with four guns from a locked cabinet kept in the general curator's office.
Six Species Saved From Extinction by ZoosAs of 2017, 1,000 animals had been restored to the wild, while thousands more were living in zoo environments. Przewalski's Horse: The only truly wild species left in the world, Przewalski's Horse is native to the grasslands of Central Asia.
AZA-accredited zoos and aquariums have collaborated on breeding and reintroduction programs that have helped save at least nine species like California condors, black-footed ferrets, Przewalski's horse, golden lion tamarins, American red wolves, and more from the brink of extinction.
London Zoo gorilla drank five litres of blackcurrant juice after escaping enclosure. The silverback gorilla whose escape sent ZSL London Zoo into lockdown made an “opportunistic” exit through two unlocked doors into a corridor where a keeper was working, the zoo said.
Most of these animals were born in captivity, with zoos playing a major role in such projects, while other schemes involve moving wild animals to new areas. This study reviewed 45 case studies, involving 17 carnivore species, and found that only 30% of captive animals released survived.
In summary, lions in captivity suffer a high level of stillbirths, a much higher frequency of behavioural abnormalities compared to smaller carnivores, and skeletal deformities likely to cause neurological complications.