Zoo chaos as escaped bear shot dead and visitors evacuated
A BEAR has been shot dead at a zoo in Germany - after escaping its enclosure with its sibling.
Inside the bear enclosure at Osnabrueck Zoo
The animal was killed after breaking free of its enclosure in the northern German town of Osnabrueck.
The German news agency dpa reported the bear was shot by zoo personnel and all visitors were temporarily evacuated.
Sonja Mattke, an eyewitness, said: "The zoo made two loudspeaker announcements, one to warn that the bear had broken out, and a second to urge visitors to leave the animal park."
The bear wandered towards the lion enclosure when it was shot.
Zoo director Dr Michael Boes insisted a tranquilizer dart would have taken 20 minutes to act - too long to guarantee the safety of visitors.
Zoo chiefs have insisted there was "never any danger to life or limb".
Taps simply wanted to be free and paid for it with her life
The head of the zoo, Andreas Busemann, said: "We reacted immediately with our team, and in order to protect the visitors, we had to shoot him."
The bear named Taps, was one of the zoo's attractions.
Taps was reportedly one of a pair - the other called Tips.
The creamy mixed breeds are the product of keeping different bear species in the same enclosure more than ten years ago.
Activists have reacted with fury to the news of the killing.
Peter Höffken, PETA expert for pets in the entertainment sector said: "Taps simply wanted to be free and paid for it with her life. Further outbreaks or fatal accidents can only be prevented in the future if the animals are no longer confined to the sight of visitors."
RIP Hybrid-bear Taps
— Fae ♡ (@faegreenlife) March 11, 2017
Shot to death in Zoo#osnabrueck #germany #AnimalCruelty
The cappuccino or ‘hybrid’ bear was born to a brown bear and a polar bear.
German media reports the animal scaled an electric fence.
Animals breaking free from enclosures has become a big issue in recent years, PETA claims.
A statement said: “Last September, a lion was shot at Zoo Leipzig, after two of the animals had escaped from their enclosure.
“Also in 2016, a lion broke out of a game park in the Brandenburg but was caught.
“In 2013 a tiger killed an animal keeper in the Allwetterzoo Münster, a year before a tiger in Cologne Zoo injured a keeper deadly.
“Since the beginning of 2012, cheetahs in Cologne Zoo, the Erfurt Zoo and the Tiergarten Nuremberg have been able to break out in three other incidents.
“In July 2012 the Zoo Hanover escaped just a catastrophe: Five chimpanzees broke out and ran around among the visitors.”
Police are investigating.
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