HYDERABAD: A narrow hole in iron mesh proved to be a window to fleeting freedom for a bear which escaped from its enclosure at Nehru Zoological Park, Hyderabad, on Monday night. The bear which though tried to dig out a trench from its cage, found this little ray of hope on top of its enclosure which was covered with rusted iron mesh.
The wild animal used all its might to widen the narrow hole, scaled over the cage, and climbed boundary wall covered with concertina coils. Those were moments of getting back to instincts for the bear as it was captured in a forest where the wild animal was used to open spaces, before it was brought to the zoo.
However, its act of liberation came to an end within an hour and a half, as officials from the zoo used blew more than five darts from blow pipes to tranquilize the bear. The incident could have posed threat to lives of people staying along perimeter wall of the zoo, as the bear was not too far away from the boundary wall, on which concertina coils were fixed.
But for the wild animal in crying need of freedom, all it would have needed was a tree leaning over the wall. Officials from the zoo said that if the bear found such a tree, the wild animal would have took a shot at jumping over the wall.
Also, the concertina coil over the perimeter was fixed 15-years ago and it lost strength at many places, which was highlighted by Express in its recent report.
“The bear was captured after an hour and a half of its breakout. It was sedated and taken to veterinary hospital in the zoo for treatment,” said an official from the zoo.
Such breakout is not first incident recorded at the zoo as in the month of August-2015 a Tiger, Kadamba, jumped over an enclosure when the zoo was packed with visitors. However, people were in luck as the zone where it broke out, was cut off from visitors zone.
The Tiger too was sedated and captured.