In some zoos in Japan and China, staff members perform regular security drills to practice their response to a large animal escape by using costumed zookeepers as the fugitive animals. Individuals in furry costumes or pairs in full-size mockups of larger animals run through zoo property, sometimes inflicting mock injuries, as fellow zookeepers work to surround, subdue, and recapture them.
Zoo Security Drills: When Animals Escape
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Read moreA policeman pretends to administer an anesthetic shot to a zoo staff member dressed as Tigger from Winnie the Pooh during a drill practicing for the possibility of tigers escaping at Chengdu Zoo in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China, on June 2, 2011. #
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Read moreA tiger looks at zoo employees carrying Tigger on a stretcher during a tiger escape drill in China's Chengdu Zoo on June 2, 2011. #
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Read moreA zoo employee dressed in a snow leopard costume takes part in a drill to practice what to do in the event of an animal escape at the Tama zoo in the western suburb of Tokyo on February 10, 2015. About 70 zookeepers participated in the annual drill. #
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Read moreA zoo employee dressed in a snow leopard costume falls to the ground during an escape drill at the Tama zoo in Tokyo on February 10, 2015. #
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Read moreA zoo employee checks the effectiveness of a 'tranquilizer' on an employee wearing a snow leopard suit during a drill at the Tama zoo in Tokyo on February 10, 2015. #
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Read moreZoo employees place a net over an employee wearing a snow leopard suit during a drill at the Tama Zoo in Tokyo on February 10, 2015. #
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Read moreStaff take part in a preventive exercise against animal escape at a zoo in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, on April 17, 2013. #
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Read moreJapanese children run from employees of Ueno Zoo inside a life-size rhinoceros replica in Tokyo, on February 26, 2004. This was a part of an earthquake disaster drill, preparing for possible animal escapes. #
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Read moreUeno zoo workers try to stop a running rhino replica during a drill to prepare the park to deal with a situation in which an animal escapes from its enclosure in Tokyo on February 26, 2004. During the annual exercise, the rhino escapes from its cage and "injures" visitors and zoo workers as it roams through the park and is finally shot with a tranquilizer gun and captured. #
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Read moreEmployees of Ueno Zoo try to capture an escaped replica rhinoceros on February 26, 2004 in Tokyo. #
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Read moreVeterinarian Tatsuko Hara holds her anesthetic gun over a 'captured' papier-mache rhinoceros in Tokyo on March 9, 2003, following a special earthquake drill conducted to prepare Ueno Zoo employees in the event a large animal goes amok during an earthquake. #
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Read moreStaff take part in a preventive exercise against animal escape at a zoo in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, on April 17, 2013. #
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Read moreA zoo worker pretends to shoot a tranquilizer dart at another worker dressed as an orangutan as part of an animal escape drill at a zoo in western Tokyo on February 27, 2007. #
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Read moreZookeepers hold a net to capture an animal keeper dressed in a gorilla costume during a drill at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo on February 6, 2014. #
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Read moreA zoo employee dressed as an escaped gorilla pretends to attack a zoo warden during a training exercise at Ueno Zoo on February 21, 2006 in Tokyo. #
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Read moreA mock gorilla is captured by zoo workers during a drill in Tokyo on February 21, 2006 to prepare the Ueno zoo to deal with a situation in which a ferocious animal escapes from its enclosure. #
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Read moreA mock gorilla wrapped up in a net is captured by zoo workers during a drill in Tokyo on February 21, 2006. #
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Read moreStaff take part in an exercise to prepare for animal escape at a zoo in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, China, on April 17, 2013. #
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Read moreA zoo staff member dressed as a zebra performs in a drill to practice what to do in the event of an animal escape at the Tama Zoo in Tokyo on February 1, 2013. #
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Read moreA zoo staff member dressed as a zebra falls over after being 'shot' by a tranquilizer gun during a drill at the Tama Zoo in Tokyo on February 1, 2013. #
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Read moreA zookeeper checks a zebra-dressed man after being 'tranquilized' during a drill at the Tama Zoo in Tokyo on February 1, 2013. #
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Read moreZookeepers transport a zebra-dressed man after being 'tranquilized' during a drill at the Tama Zoo in Tokyo on February 1, 2013. #
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