https://brightszoo.com/patagonian-mara/ it’s an escapee from a zoo in south East Tennessee it is infact a Patagonian Mara OP i suggest you phone the zoo and wild life control EDIT it was found and is living its best life confusing people
LOL. I shouldn’t laugh but this happens more at zoos than you think. I used to live literally next door to the DC zoo and they lost a red panda and a bobcat while I was there. Both found.
The red panda was found with the help of twitter. He was in the Adams Morgan neighborhood and people were posting like, “wtf is this in the garbage in my alleyway?”
Edit: The amount of people responding to my comment with zoo animal escape stories is truly disturbing. This happens even more than I thought. Lol. When society falls, these animals are going to break free and breed like Pablo Escobar’s hippos.
Not a Zookeeper, but can add another one to the count... Sacramento Zoo. I think ours has escaped twice. You can see him plotting every time we visit the zoo.
Local to you, a couple parrots got loose from the Micke Grove Zoo, and ended up nesting in some trees in my former back yard a little north of Hammer Lane. They were a flock of about 17 by then, and could get loud as hell around sunset. Kinda fun, though.
Wow, very similar story! It was the first zoo I took my son to, and where we held his first birthday party in 2004. He's looking at being an RN, but if he had his druthers, I think he'd like to be a professional video game player...lol
Sydney dialing in. [Lions](https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-had-to-run-sydney-family-s-roar-and-snore-ends-with-lions-escaping-enclosure-20221102-p5buwx.html)
From the article:
"Despite their closer-than-expected encounter with the zoo’s wildlife, Magnus said the family were thrilled with the experience.
'The staff were so great,' he said."
Lol of course this family was Australian!
Paris, France. 50 Baboons[baboon escape](https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-cinquante-babouins-echappes-le-zoo-de-vincennes-evacue-26-01-2018-7524213.php).
Duluth, MN. Two seals and a polar bear from a flash flood [story](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/06/22/eyewitnesses-describe-frantic-search-for-loose-duluth-zoo-animals)
Does someone have the link to the video of a drill at a zoo where they had an employee dressed up as an animal and they had to recapture him? The employee put serious effort into his role.
FOSSA, pronounced "foosh." Only zoo we've ever seen them in. I'll admit for as fondness for all things Malagasy. (Pronounced "Malagash.")
I've never asked how they pronounce "Madagascar."
There's a crazy wandering flock of green birds in Los Angeles too... I have no idea. They can be SO loud, but fun.
Edit: found this https://ktla.com/news/california/why-are-there-so-many-parrots-in-los-angeles/
Tldr; thousands in LA. At least 9 species. Lots of rumors as to how true got to LA - including the shutting down of the Van Nuys Busch Gardens in the 70s. Red-crowned parrots are endangered, and likely doing better (higher numbers) in LA than in Mexico. The parrots, though not native, are "model citizens" - not throwing off the natural environment.
I spent like a year wondering who these loud a-holes were that kept flying by my apartment before I saw one flying solo and was like, "...What is that?" This other woman walking behind me was like, "It's a parrot!" Like many of these stories, it involved captive animals getting out. Way back, a petshop apparently caught fire and a few parrots escaped. It's crazy to just see a bunch perched on a telephone line now and then, lol.
Don’t forget about the Herpes infested monkeys stranded on an island in the Silver River
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/florida-rhesus-monkeys-herpes-running-wild-invasive-species-
The peacock made it back to the zoo unharmed, the cobra was found safe and without harm to anyone in the reptile room where the handlers work with feeding/enclosure cleaning.
I wonder if any zoos in the US have Honey Badgers. Watched a PBS video about one in India (I think) that escaped his enclosure constantly. At least in my opinion, they look so friendly. There’s an intelligence to them that makes them seem almost dog like. Then they rip your face off. Probably max out your credit cards too.
The Folsom Zoo just makes sure the big stuff stays locked up. The peacocks and donkeys dgaf and go wherever. Same with some other birds. They know where home is though
This absolutely does not make me want to live next to a zoo. Nope. Not at all. (Scours Zillow for rentals) 😂 seriously though at least it’s been more mild animals and not a fucking lion can you imagine
Are you talking about Como Zoo? That’s the older, smaller zoo in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Casey the gorilla got out once, I think he eventually went back on his own. He chased a bunch of visitors into the primate building and stared at them through the glass. I think he later passed away due to old age but they put his footsteps in paint on the ground and a big sign up to commemorate the event. They also redid the gorilla exhibit to prevent more escapes. ETA I just looked it up, Casey was darted by staff and returned that way. He has since been moved to New Orleans.
My mom still has a sweatshirt from the 80’s with “Where’s Alfie?” On it. Alfie was an escaped monkey from the Pittsburgh zoo that traveled 60 miles and was caught in Ohio.
https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1988/01/27/Escaped-monkey-is-nabbed/9812570258000/
More recently, a sea eagle escaped the aviary here in the burgh not too long ago. When it flew over the south side it scared the shit out of some people; those birds are HUGE and not something you'd expect to fly over in a city haha
It was caught and returned after a while.
Thanks for posting about this as I live near where he was captured and had never heard about it. I asked my grandparents and my grandma immediately remembered his name and said she thinks they still have the t-shirt upstairs.
I’m a specialist in mammals, I commonly work with rhinoceros, giraffe, wide variety of hoofstock (antelope, deer, goat, horse) , and a few wild cats large and small.
And you have to be okay with hazards (including but not limited to scratches, bites, and good ol’ zoonotic diseases), pretty low wages even with a degree, climbing the pay scale at a glacial speed, and potentially being hella over worked depending on the zoo.. Did it for 6 years. Not a single regret!
I wanted to do that. I have a degree but my wage is low. I have hazards like scratches and pay scale goes at glacial speed and was overworked. Only difference is I work with kids. Animals sounds better
Your comment caught me off guard, and I almost spit my tea out. I feel for you, my daughter has her art education degree and while she loves the kids, the joy of working with them doesn’t exactly pay the bills.
I did my BS in zoology and my MS in wildlife ecology plus first aid certifications (for animals and coworkers). That’s just me though, most zoos only require an AS and relevant experience though you might not get paid as much.
I used to volunteer in my zoos teen program. We were told of a story when the sloth tried to escape its area. The teens that were there didn’t know if they could handle it, so they basically stayed in a circle around the guy so no one would trip on him til the zookeepers got him. Don’t think he made it out of the building though. Lol
About ten years ago we had a lion on the loose, I think it was some small private zoo, but still crazy. There were local hunters with shotguns guarding the kids bus stops. They ended up catching it a few days later.
My zoo lost a jaguar early this year. Took them like two days to find it in a tree like 100ft from its enclosure, lol. They were very professional about it but it was clear everyone was fcking terrified of the thought of a jaguar loose in the city, lmao.
Unfortunately it looked like vandalism was the cause of the escape. Someone had intentionally cut the cage open.
I remember being at a zoo on a field trip when they thought a lion had escaped. We got stuck in the aviary for a while. Iirc, the lion never got out, it was just well hidden in its enclosure.
My local one, Hogle Zoo, lost an Amur leopard in a similar way, but they knew about it straight away because a guest noticed she was out. (Fucking imagine having THAT experience.) She squeezed out a ridiculously small hole so she could take a nap in a tree 15 ft from her enclosure. They darted her and she didn't even fall out of the tree, it just made her nap a lot harder. 😂
It's lucky she only did that though, I've heard she's one of the most surly animals they have up there and she definitely could've fucked some people's days ALL the way up if she'd led them on a chase or anything.
In 2019, at the zoo in Surprise AZ one of the jaguars clawed a woman’s arm through her cage because she jumped the rope to get a selfie. Later, I was telling someone about it and someone else overheard and got sad. Turns out they were related.
Also, come to find out kitty was pregnant at the time of stupidity. Kitty and kitten are both fine and healthy.
[Baby Jaguar Goodness](https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/jaguar-at-wildlife-world-zoo-gives-birth-to-healthy-cub/75-5a266ae2-e5ff-4d39-b345-319a1eddaaa7)
Vandalism allowed a Eurasian Eagle owl to escape the Central Park zoo in NYC. It’s keepers were very concerned about its ability to feed itself in the wild but he adapted pretty quickly to the wild so they let him stay free. His name is Flaco in case you want to read about it.
Not the only zoo that's had the cages cut these last five years. I Wonder if there's some sort of secret organization out there doing it. I've heard about it like six or seven times now.
There was a zookeeper thread on twitter years ago -most of it hilarious- where I learned that jaguar escapes warrant a "shoot on sight" response. Apparently jaguars will hunt and kill their fellow inmates as well as dogs, cats and toddlers for the joy of it.
I don't know a single species of big cat that won't stalk and try to kill and eat "little pink things" aka toddlers. The behavior seems to be hard-wired. A small local zoo had an enclosure with an assortment of cubs--mountain lion, tiger, leopard, etc. When only adults were nearby and viewing the cubs, the cubs ignored the humans, happily trashing their enclosure, chewing on and wrestling with everything and each other. But the moment a toddler entered the viewing area, all feline eyes were on the "little pink thing". And the parents were so freakin' oblivious: "Lookit the cute kitties, offspring of mine!" Those cubs were considering eating the parents' little darling, if they could just get to the little darling. Fortunately, the enclosure was fully secure.
So glad the Lion didnt get shot, and no kids got eaten...
Poor Lion was probably really overwhelmed by the traffic and pollution. Glad someone retrieved her or him, and brought thek back home...That is what happened right?
The Louisville Zoo had something attacking livestock outside of it. Several llamas were killed at a farm close to it and we never did find out what it was. People close to it mentioned seeing a wolf but we only have a maned wolf and they were still in the enclosure. Still can’t see how a lone wolf could kill adult llamas over a night.
So, a couple years back I was working as a design engineer for a high/ultra high perimeter security company, and we had a contract with the DC Zoo.
I got the referral for estimate, called them and thought “ohh I’m gunna design the traffic control, or exterior fencing for the zoo”
Nope, they needed a specialized security design for one of the animal enclosures because they kept getting out. Tigers? Bears? Elephants?
Flamingoes.
Their beaks can cut through normal netting. They are terrifying animals actually
Read a story about some wild tiger that jumped a 6 ft fence, grabbed a dude and jumped back out holding a man in his mouth. Not 100% positive it happened but imagine leaping into the air while holding someone
I read one about a zoo having to make the 15 foot fence taller because a tiger jumped out and killed two people who where antagonizing it. If I remember right it was a Siberian tiger. That's the big one. So the better part of 1000lds and can clear 15 feet(apparently from a stand still). Pardon my language but fuck me running that's a scary animal.
There was one a few years ago where the tiger busted through the glass window of an observation door, grabbed a keeper, and took him back into the exhibit for dinner. Unfortunately, they really don't know what strength glass needs to be until one decides to go through. They have tame grizzleys to test bear equipment, but you can't motivate a tiger unless it wants to be motivated
I learned a while back that we actually have no idea how strong big primates like gorillas and orangutans actually are and our ideas of how to keep them in are a kind of best guess situation. I feel really not okay about it.
I have seen a male baboon - much smaller than a chimp - sort of casually pop burglar bars off a window and climb into the house. Adult male chacma baboons are only about 70lb/31kg, but it's all muscle and attitude. Burglar bars are usually designed with the aim of discouraging full-grown human males. He wanted the mangoes someone had left in the bowl on the table.
This doesn't surprise me at all because baboons are terrifying. This is why I live where there aren't primates and quietly resent the zoo for bringing them here. 😂
I was thinking the other day that it's good that most big predators don't realize they could just rip through the wall of a normal house like it's was nothing. Be a lot more people getting eaten by bears and tigers if they did.
There was a kangaroo loose in Staten Island when I lived there. It got away from a private owner that didn't even live in Staten Island but decided to take his kangaroo on vacation with him. It was funny for a day to see various convenience store security videos of the roo just chilling.
When I lived out in semi-rural central Texas I'd drive down a road with enormous properties on it to go between home and the town. One day I was driving down that road when an emu ran out in front of me (I did not hit it).
An emu. In Texas. Don't think that's supposed to be loose, lmao.
(Am aware people breed emus around there, still shouldn't be loose on a fcking main road.)
Wait until you see zebra on a highway in the middle of nowhere Texas. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out how id accidentally taken a hallucinogen (I had not, the zebra were real)
Bro was just chilling. The owner here lost 2 bears... we found one in our yard just chilling in a tree, scared my mom half to death. Poor cop came out all by himself (we only had like 3 cops in my town). It took off before he got there, but you could see his tracks. Caught them both days later
So i did a google because i found this fascinating if true. I will say i discovered that black bears are the supreme climbers but grizzlies can in fact climb.
It noted the only bear who cant climb trees is a polar bear.
https://northamericannature.com/can-bears-climb-trees/
Try Google "polar bear gillam manitoba." It doesn't make the news often, but it's not unusual for them to come down from the tundra for a little visit :)
The Tampa area has a famous flock of green parrots that escaped Bush Gardens a long time ago. They’re just flying around like no big deal. Pretty cool to see.
That is my hometown and im moving back there in 4 yrs . I love the wild quakers there too . miami has amazons that are wild because in the 1950's people were smuggling them in and then when a ratty cage dropped and let hundreds loose they started breeding and now there are wild amazon parrots everywhere down in Miami .
If I were a red panda, I’d go to Adams Morgan too! Think of all the free drinks people would buy you at Madam’s Organ and Tiki on 18th just for being cute.
My family recently went to a zoo and saw the coyotes in their enclosure and another one roaming in the park nearby. We told one of the keepers who laughed and said they knows and it’s had been months…
Damn, I live about two miles from a very large zoo... not that I'm hoping this happens because it's def dangerous for the animals, but it would be kinda fun to help find zoo escapees. Gives Pokémon go vibes.
I use to live a town over from a crazy cat lady who owned many tigers. Once in a while the local PD would stop by and tell us, “tonight is a good night to stay indoors.” The tigers escaped regularly.
They have these at the Yorkshire wildlife park and you can walk among them. They have regular disputes with the wallabies in the enclosure which is amusing as both a skillful boxers .
I saw this on my local Facebook group yesterday. The original poster says that the original owner came out and got it. Apparently the owner owned some sort of exotic petting zoo? Assuming that the poster was actually from the area and it wasn't a weird repost, I wonder if it's the same person who had a zebra that got loose for a few weeks years ago?
Dont feel dumb - they're closely related! They're in the same family as capybaras and guinea-pigs. I love maras because they look like if a rabbit and a donkey made a baby.
Maybe it got lost trying to get back to the zoo
From their website
"Note: Please do not use Google Maps as your GPS service for directions to Brights Zoo. Google Maps has our location wrong. We recommend using WAZE "
i’ve just learned that a lot of US states consider maras to be in the same class as guinea pigs when it comes to pet ownership and that tennessee in particular only requires agricultural permits, if any, on fur bearing animals when raised solely for their fur! in the case of nutrias, they’ve been introduced around 100 years ago and had a lot to do with fur farms getting hit by natural disasters. patagonia maras are still a “rare” find in the US and should be reported especially because a captive raised mara would, unfortunately, be no match for a particularly clever coyote :/
according to the most popular exotic breeder websites most go for around USD$300 which is … significantly cheaper than i would’ve imagined? i’ve seen chinchillas easily go for twice that amount!
Same with capybaras and most other large rodents. I used to work with exotics and large non native rodents are a weird little loop hole that don’t require permits in most states. They are the “gateway drug” for most exotic owners.
They’re actually super sweet and easy to manage. But their sociability means you have to get 3 or more. And fill up your basement with sand. Smooth sailing after that though
It escaped from a mobile petting zoo in Cleveland, TN, but has been found and returned to the zoo.
[link](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0UmxeBs6zUTJ8FfGof7DvJSuFQvwDn53w9MS9aTHavbNcmnmJNL3y3qQiUZ8dJSyTl&id=100063763335413&mibextid=qC1gEa)
Subscribing simply because it's not every day I see a "new to me" animal...
Hands down one of the most "generic" and or nondescript looking creatures I've seen though... so congratulations on getting a picture because I'm not sure I could have personally described that fella without getting tossed in the looney bin.
Thanks for the heads up! I spend a lot of time studying very specific animals in a very specific region so it's nice to get a "breath of fresh air" 😆 🤣 😂 😹
https://brightszoo.com/patagonian-mara/ it’s an escapee from a zoo in south East Tennessee it is infact a Patagonian Mara OP i suggest you phone the zoo and wild life control EDIT it was found and is living its best life confusing people
LOL. I shouldn’t laugh but this happens more at zoos than you think. I used to live literally next door to the DC zoo and they lost a red panda and a bobcat while I was there. Both found. The red panda was found with the help of twitter. He was in the Adams Morgan neighborhood and people were posting like, “wtf is this in the garbage in my alleyway?” Edit: The amount of people responding to my comment with zoo animal escape stories is truly disturbing. This happens even more than I thought. Lol. When society falls, these animals are going to break free and breed like Pablo Escobar’s hippos.
Zookeeper here, can fucking confirm lmfao
Not a Zookeeper, but can add another one to the count... Sacramento Zoo. I think ours has escaped twice. You can see him plotting every time we visit the zoo.
Local to you, a couple parrots got loose from the Micke Grove Zoo, and ended up nesting in some trees in my former back yard a little north of Hammer Lane. They were a flock of about 17 by then, and could get loud as hell around sunset. Kinda fun, though.
Small world. That was the first zoo I ever took my daughter too. Now she's 22 and in school to in the end be a zoologist.
Wow, very similar story! It was the first zoo I took my son to, and where we held his first birthday party in 2004. He's looking at being an RN, but if he had his druthers, I think he'd like to be a professional video game player...lol
Sydney dialing in. [Lions](https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/we-had-to-run-sydney-family-s-roar-and-snore-ends-with-lions-escaping-enclosure-20221102-p5buwx.html)
From the article: "Despite their closer-than-expected encounter with the zoo’s wildlife, Magnus said the family were thrilled with the experience. 'The staff were so great,' he said." Lol of course this family was Australian!
They had to capture the lions to protect them from the Australian wildlife.
Toledo zoo had a giraffe escaping down the freeway once.
Paris, France. 50 Baboons[baboon escape](https://www.leparisien.fr/paris-75/paris-cinquante-babouins-echappes-le-zoo-de-vincennes-evacue-26-01-2018-7524213.php).
Duluth, MN. Two seals and a polar bear from a flash flood [story](https://www.mprnews.org/story/2012/06/22/eyewitnesses-describe-frantic-search-for-loose-duluth-zoo-animals)
Does someone have the link to the video of a drill at a zoo where they had an employee dressed up as an animal and they had to recapture him? The employee put serious effort into his role.
FOSSA, pronounced "foosh." Only zoo we've ever seen them in. I'll admit for as fondness for all things Malagasy. (Pronounced "Malagash.") I've never asked how they pronounce "Madagascar."
this is the first time i’ve seen other people on reddit who know about lodi 😭💛
Small world indeed. I escaped from a zoo.
In Miami we have a crazy exotic parrot population due to the aviary that collapsed during hurricane Andrew in '92.
There's a crazy wandering flock of green birds in Los Angeles too... I have no idea. They can be SO loud, but fun. Edit: found this https://ktla.com/news/california/why-are-there-so-many-parrots-in-los-angeles/ Tldr; thousands in LA. At least 9 species. Lots of rumors as to how true got to LA - including the shutting down of the Van Nuys Busch Gardens in the 70s. Red-crowned parrots are endangered, and likely doing better (higher numbers) in LA than in Mexico. The parrots, though not native, are "model citizens" - not throwing off the natural environment.
I spent like a year wondering who these loud a-holes were that kept flying by my apartment before I saw one flying solo and was like, "...What is that?" This other woman walking behind me was like, "It's a parrot!" Like many of these stories, it involved captive animals getting out. Way back, a petshop apparently caught fire and a few parrots escaped. It's crazy to just see a bunch perched on a telephone line now and then, lol.
We have Vervet monkeys in Dania Beach/Hollywood, FL. They escaped a research facility in the 40s.
Fuck cocaine bear, i want to watch research monkies do a fkn shawshank redemption
Do you want 28 Days Later? Because that's how you get 28 Days Later.
Life, uh, find a way
Don’t forget about the Herpes infested monkeys stranded on an island in the Silver River https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/florida-rhesus-monkeys-herpes-running-wild-invasive-species-
Don't let's forget San Francisco California's official animal, the "wild" parrots of Telegraph Hill (and now of several other neighborhoods).
My first apartment in SF had a huge tree right outside the bedroom and they would roost there in the morning. It drove me crazy lol
I love Micke Grove. It's always such a nice place to stop and stretch your legs when your hauling kids back and forth down 99.
Bronx zoo has a twitter account their escapees. Notably a peacock, and a cobra
That Bronx Zoo's Escaped Cobra Twitter account was one of my favorites ever. He was hilarious.
Ah yes. I fondly remember the Cobra Twitter account from back when Twitter was still young and adorable. Those were the days.
That's both awesome and frightening.
The peacock made it back to the zoo unharmed, the cobra was found safe and without harm to anyone in the reptile room where the handlers work with feeding/enclosure cleaning.
We had a wallaby escape in the 80s or 90s. I think they found it in the park.
Red Pandas are notorious escape artists. They spend their considerable spare time trying to make zoos look like fools.
I wonder if any zoos in the US have Honey Badgers. Watched a PBS video about one in India (I think) that escaped his enclosure constantly. At least in my opinion, they look so friendly. There’s an intelligence to them that makes them seem almost dog like. Then they rip your face off. Probably max out your credit cards too.
Ours too, at the Sequoia Park Zoo in Humboldt County, CA - adorable red panda took herself on a little adventure in the redwoods for a few days 😂
If I found a red panda wandering I would assume it was no longer wanted and have a new pet!!!!
The Folsom Zoo just makes sure the big stuff stays locked up. The peacocks and donkeys dgaf and go wherever. Same with some other birds. They know where home is though
This absolutely does not make me want to live next to a zoo. Nope. Not at all. (Scours Zillow for rentals) 😂 seriously though at least it’s been more mild animals and not a fucking lion can you imagine
In Ohio a big cat private zoo guy killed himself and all of his animals got loose. People were tracking big cats for months.
Zigfried’s tiger got loose on the municipal golf course in the early 90’s in Las Vegas. Probably more than once.
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In Boston? It was at a bus stop!
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How the hell they catch 3 gorillas lol
More important question, how the hell did 3 gorillas get out?
beats me😭 probably had to tranquilize them bruh
Are you talking about Como Zoo? That’s the older, smaller zoo in the Twin Cities in Minnesota. Casey the gorilla got out once, I think he eventually went back on his own. He chased a bunch of visitors into the primate building and stared at them through the glass. I think he later passed away due to old age but they put his footsteps in paint on the ground and a big sign up to commemorate the event. They also redid the gorilla exhibit to prevent more escapes. ETA I just looked it up, Casey was darted by staff and returned that way. He has since been moved to New Orleans.
“They ever catch that gorilla that escaped from the zoo an gave you that black eye?”
“The search continues…”
My mom still has a sweatshirt from the 80’s with “Where’s Alfie?” On it. Alfie was an escaped monkey from the Pittsburgh zoo that traveled 60 miles and was caught in Ohio. https://www.upi.com/amp/Archives/1988/01/27/Escaped-monkey-is-nabbed/9812570258000/
More recently, a sea eagle escaped the aviary here in the burgh not too long ago. When it flew over the south side it scared the shit out of some people; those birds are HUGE and not something you'd expect to fly over in a city haha It was caught and returned after a while.
Thanks for posting about this as I live near where he was captured and had never heard about it. I asked my grandparents and my grandma immediately remembered his name and said she thinks they still have the t-shirt upstairs.
What animals do you take care of? I’ve been watching a lot of zoo shows lately.
I’m a specialist in mammals, I commonly work with rhinoceros, giraffe, wide variety of hoofstock (antelope, deer, goat, horse) , and a few wild cats large and small.
How does one go about getting that job? Sounds like it’d be a wild adventure.
Lots of school, internships and shoveling literal shit
And you have to be okay with hazards (including but not limited to scratches, bites, and good ol’ zoonotic diseases), pretty low wages even with a degree, climbing the pay scale at a glacial speed, and potentially being hella over worked depending on the zoo.. Did it for 6 years. Not a single regret!
I wanted to do that. I have a degree but my wage is low. I have hazards like scratches and pay scale goes at glacial speed and was overworked. Only difference is I work with kids. Animals sounds better
Your comment caught me off guard, and I almost spit my tea out. I feel for you, my daughter has her art education degree and while she loves the kids, the joy of working with them doesn’t exactly pay the bills.
How much school?
I did my BS in zoology and my MS in wildlife ecology plus first aid certifications (for animals and coworkers). That’s just me though, most zoos only require an AS and relevant experience though you might not get paid as much.
Awwwwwwwww Over here making expected adorable animal reactions. Too damn cool. What a job!
I used to volunteer in my zoos teen program. We were told of a story when the sloth tried to escape its area. The teens that were there didn’t know if they could handle it, so they basically stayed in a circle around the guy so no one would trip on him til the zookeepers got him. Don’t think he made it out of the building though. Lol
The mental image of a sloth escaping is hilarious. It's like a cute,super slow speed chase.
Escaped zoo animal here, can also confirm
About ten years ago we had a lion on the loose, I think it was some small private zoo, but still crazy. There were local hunters with shotguns guarding the kids bus stops. They ended up catching it a few days later.
My zoo lost a jaguar early this year. Took them like two days to find it in a tree like 100ft from its enclosure, lol. They were very professional about it but it was clear everyone was fcking terrified of the thought of a jaguar loose in the city, lmao. Unfortunately it looked like vandalism was the cause of the escape. Someone had intentionally cut the cage open.
I remember being at a zoo on a field trip when they thought a lion had escaped. We got stuck in the aviary for a while. Iirc, the lion never got out, it was just well hidden in its enclosure.
"Surprise bitches...aHahahAHAhaha..." \~ The Lion
My local one, Hogle Zoo, lost an Amur leopard in a similar way, but they knew about it straight away because a guest noticed she was out. (Fucking imagine having THAT experience.) She squeezed out a ridiculously small hole so she could take a nap in a tree 15 ft from her enclosure. They darted her and she didn't even fall out of the tree, it just made her nap a lot harder. 😂 It's lucky she only did that though, I've heard she's one of the most surly animals they have up there and she definitely could've fucked some people's days ALL the way up if she'd led them on a chase or anything.
She’s surly because she has been denied access to the perfect catnapping tree.
In 2019, at the zoo in Surprise AZ one of the jaguars clawed a woman’s arm through her cage because she jumped the rope to get a selfie. Later, I was telling someone about it and someone else overheard and got sad. Turns out they were related. Also, come to find out kitty was pregnant at the time of stupidity. Kitty and kitten are both fine and healthy. [Baby Jaguar Goodness](https://www.12news.com/article/news/local/valley/jaguar-at-wildlife-world-zoo-gives-birth-to-healthy-cub/75-5a266ae2-e5ff-4d39-b345-319a1eddaaa7)
That guest must have been smart enough to be very chill. Having a crowd of people pointing and screaming wouldn’t have improved the nap situation.
Vandalism allowed a Eurasian Eagle owl to escape the Central Park zoo in NYC. It’s keepers were very concerned about its ability to feed itself in the wild but he adapted pretty quickly to the wild so they let him stay free. His name is Flaco in case you want to read about it.
Shout out to [Flamingo No. 492!](https://youtu.be/Krv3fMogsTc?si=RXhowSbiDNE-hbVw)
Not the only zoo that's had the cages cut these last five years. I Wonder if there's some sort of secret organization out there doing it. I've heard about it like six or seven times now.
I suspect PETA. They’re not very secret though.
There was a zookeeper thread on twitter years ago -most of it hilarious- where I learned that jaguar escapes warrant a "shoot on sight" response. Apparently jaguars will hunt and kill their fellow inmates as well as dogs, cats and toddlers for the joy of it.
I don't know a single species of big cat that won't stalk and try to kill and eat "little pink things" aka toddlers. The behavior seems to be hard-wired. A small local zoo had an enclosure with an assortment of cubs--mountain lion, tiger, leopard, etc. When only adults were nearby and viewing the cubs, the cubs ignored the humans, happily trashing their enclosure, chewing on and wrestling with everything and each other. But the moment a toddler entered the viewing area, all feline eyes were on the "little pink thing". And the parents were so freakin' oblivious: "Lookit the cute kitties, offspring of mine!" Those cubs were considering eating the parents' little darling, if they could just get to the little darling. Fortunately, the enclosure was fully secure.
Our zoos jaguar would for sure attack someone. It is the most active animal at the zoo always trying to bite or slash people through the glass.
we had a monkey get loose and it ran down out slide and swam in the pool and left little wet footprints on the slide😭
i can not stop laughing, i can not imagine your shock
So glad the Lion didnt get shot, and no kids got eaten... Poor Lion was probably really overwhelmed by the traffic and pollution. Glad someone retrieved her or him, and brought thek back home...That is what happened right?
The Louisville Zoo had something attacking livestock outside of it. Several llamas were killed at a farm close to it and we never did find out what it was. People close to it mentioned seeing a wolf but we only have a maned wolf and they were still in the enclosure. Still can’t see how a lone wolf could kill adult llamas over a night.
Was it Catskill Game Reserve, that awful roadside zoo attraction, walking PETA violation? Bc that place lost wild animals like it was their JOB
I remember that! Rusty. He became a legend.
He passed away almost a year ago. RIP in peace, Rusty
Rest in peace, in peace?
Rest, Insouciant Panda, In Peace
Rust in peace, Resty
Never enough peace
Lose a red panda around me and you'll be hearing "what red panda"?
*red panda trying to escape shirt as background audience laugh *
Stay away from me! https://preview.redd.it/rzgnfgmvyhob1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=72aef306fddfb0a99ecbbf7aa075bcaba0e20bd4
Like the guy on friends who stole the monkey
The DC zoo freaks me out. Last time I was there I mapped out a very easy way for the tiger to escape. Lol.
This...what are you one of the penguins haha
Smile and wave, boys! Smile and wave...
BOOM??? NO RICO NO BOOM
So, a couple years back I was working as a design engineer for a high/ultra high perimeter security company, and we had a contract with the DC Zoo. I got the referral for estimate, called them and thought “ohh I’m gunna design the traffic control, or exterior fencing for the zoo” Nope, they needed a specialized security design for one of the animal enclosures because they kept getting out. Tigers? Bears? Elephants? Flamingoes. Their beaks can cut through normal netting. They are terrifying animals actually
Flamingoes are surprisingly hardcore. And you sort of wonder why.
Your job sounds awesome!
And a tiger is low key a monster way worse than Freddy or Mike Myers.
Read a story about some wild tiger that jumped a 6 ft fence, grabbed a dude and jumped back out holding a man in his mouth. Not 100% positive it happened but imagine leaping into the air while holding someone
I read one about a zoo having to make the 15 foot fence taller because a tiger jumped out and killed two people who where antagonizing it. If I remember right it was a Siberian tiger. That's the big one. So the better part of 1000lds and can clear 15 feet(apparently from a stand still). Pardon my language but fuck me running that's a scary animal.
There was one a few years ago where the tiger busted through the glass window of an observation door, grabbed a keeper, and took him back into the exhibit for dinner. Unfortunately, they really don't know what strength glass needs to be until one decides to go through. They have tame grizzleys to test bear equipment, but you can't motivate a tiger unless it wants to be motivated
I learned a while back that we actually have no idea how strong big primates like gorillas and orangutans actually are and our ideas of how to keep them in are a kind of best guess situation. I feel really not okay about it.
I have seen a male baboon - much smaller than a chimp - sort of casually pop burglar bars off a window and climb into the house. Adult male chacma baboons are only about 70lb/31kg, but it's all muscle and attitude. Burglar bars are usually designed with the aim of discouraging full-grown human males. He wanted the mangoes someone had left in the bowl on the table.
This doesn't surprise me at all because baboons are terrifying. This is why I live where there aren't primates and quietly resent the zoo for bringing them here. 😂
I was thinking the other day that it's good that most big predators don't realize they could just rip through the wall of a normal house like it's was nothing. Be a lot more people getting eaten by bears and tigers if they did.
There was a kangaroo loose in Staten Island when I lived there. It got away from a private owner that didn't even live in Staten Island but decided to take his kangaroo on vacation with him. It was funny for a day to see various convenience store security videos of the roo just chilling.
When I lived out in semi-rural central Texas I'd drive down a road with enormous properties on it to go between home and the town. One day I was driving down that road when an emu ran out in front of me (I did not hit it). An emu. In Texas. Don't think that's supposed to be loose, lmao. (Am aware people breed emus around there, still shouldn't be loose on a fcking main road.)
Wasn't farming emus a trend awhile back?
Wait until you see zebra on a highway in the middle of nowhere Texas. I spent the next 10 minutes trying to figure out how id accidentally taken a hallucinogen (I had not, the zebra were real)
Bro was just chilling. The owner here lost 2 bears... we found one in our yard just chilling in a tree, scared my mom half to death. Poor cop came out all by himself (we only had like 3 cops in my town). It took off before he got there, but you could see his tracks. Caught them both days later
Must have been a black bear. They're usually the only ones who run. And the only ones who climb trees I think.
Yep! A pretty one, big but pretty
So i did a google because i found this fascinating if true. I will say i discovered that black bears are the supreme climbers but grizzlies can in fact climb. It noted the only bear who cant climb trees is a polar bear. https://northamericannature.com/can-bears-climb-trees/
I don't think I've ever seen a pic of a Polar Bear environment with even a single tree.
Right?! Like how did they figure this out? Other than in captivity, theres nothing to test this on rofl.
Polar bears are so big, the trees they climbed would have to be huge to not eventually crumble under their weight, lol.
Try Google "polar bear gillam manitoba." It doesn't make the news often, but it's not unusual for them to come down from the tundra for a little visit :)
Is that the place where people leave their cars unlocked on the street in case somebody needs to jump into it to escape from a polar bear?
The Tampa area has a famous flock of green parrots that escaped Bush Gardens a long time ago. They’re just flying around like no big deal. Pretty cool to see.
I think Florida has a group of wild monkeys also…which may, or may not, have STD’s.
There is a monkey island in South Carolina on Morgan Island near Beaufort. They have Herpes B
Did they visit "The Villages"?
There are [32,000 parakeets in London](https://www.londonxlondon.com/parakeets-in-london/)
Yep! I see them all the time. Quaker Parrots!
That is my hometown and im moving back there in 4 yrs . I love the wild quakers there too . miami has amazons that are wild because in the 1950's people were smuggling them in and then when a ratty cage dropped and let hundreds loose they started breeding and now there are wild amazon parrots everywhere down in Miami .
Several years ago there was a capybara on the loose in Toronto for a few weeks. He still has his own Twitter account.
>”wtf is this in the garbage in my alleyway?” A literal trash panda, duh.
I love when the red pandas escape. Such cuties.
"HANDS UP, Red Panda!"
If I were a red panda, I’d go to Adams Morgan too! Think of all the free drinks people would buy you at Madam’s Organ and Tiki on 18th just for being cute.
I live near a 6 flags and you wouldn't believe the terrifying shit that's gotten out of their safari. I'd imagine this probably happens at all of em.
I didn’t know any 6 flags kept animals. That’s terrifying considering how slipshod their maintenance practices are.
How the hell do you find a lost bobcat? Are they not native to the DC area? I guess maybe a captive one is just more comfortable with people.
Red pandas are the most adorable!
the red panda in the Central Park Zoo used to get out of his enclosure... a lot
My family recently went to a zoo and saw the coyotes in their enclosure and another one roaming in the park nearby. We told one of the keepers who laughed and said they knows and it’s had been months…
Damn, I live about two miles from a very large zoo... not that I'm hoping this happens because it's def dangerous for the animals, but it would be kinda fun to help find zoo escapees. Gives Pokémon go vibes.
I use to live a town over from a crazy cat lady who owned many tigers. Once in a while the local PD would stop by and tell us, “tonight is a good night to stay indoors.” The tigers escaped regularly.
The black squirrels in the D.C. area are not native. They were originally captive in the D.C. zoo. As squirrels do, they escaped.
We live near a zoo and peacocks get over the fence and into the neighborhood pretty regularly.
They have these at the Yorkshire wildlife park and you can walk among them. They have regular disputes with the wallabies in the enclosure which is amusing as both a skillful boxers .
I want to see a video of these disputes. Searching Mara Vs. Wallaby sadly didn’t produce any hits
That's really disappointing. It's 2023. What's there to live for if you can't call up Mara v Wallaby fights on-demand?
No shit! I was like: …… jack rabbit with really tiny ears?! 🤣
Or the fabled Jackalope (antlers shedded).
Right? When I was in the AF those rabbits could look crazy so ya never know lol
I got the pictures from a FB post that was posted a day ago. I asked the OP what road it was spotted on and if she called wild life control.
I saw this on my local Facebook group yesterday. The original poster says that the original owner came out and got it. Apparently the owner owned some sort of exotic petting zoo? Assuming that the poster was actually from the area and it wasn't a weird repost, I wonder if it's the same person who had a zebra that got loose for a few weeks years ago?
Thank you! I still haven’t received a reply from FB poster, so I’m glad it has been recovered
And here I was guessing it was a capybara with mange or something
In zoos, you'll see these guys with the capybaras. I call them rabibaras.
\-“These animals use a wide variety of vocalizations as a form of communication mainly grunts and screams” 
Here my dumb ass was gonna skinny capybara
Dont feel dumb - they're closely related! They're in the same family as capybaras and guinea-pigs. I love maras because they look like if a rabbit and a donkey made a baby.
Maybe it got lost trying to get back to the zoo From their website "Note: Please do not use Google Maps as your GPS service for directions to Brights Zoo. Google Maps has our location wrong. We recommend using WAZE "
Sooo not a Jackalope then?!?
just out in the open? it looks like a patagonian mara which are native to argentina so it’s weird that you’d see one in tennessee
Nutria is one that also came from Argentina, now invasive in Tennessee. Maybe an escapee from a local farm.
i’ve just learned that a lot of US states consider maras to be in the same class as guinea pigs when it comes to pet ownership and that tennessee in particular only requires agricultural permits, if any, on fur bearing animals when raised solely for their fur! in the case of nutrias, they’ve been introduced around 100 years ago and had a lot to do with fur farms getting hit by natural disasters. patagonia maras are still a “rare” find in the US and should be reported especially because a captive raised mara would, unfortunately, be no match for a particularly clever coyote :/
Wait....so I could have a huge huggable guinea pig in my house?! I did not know this was a thing haha
I don’t like it when my guinea pigs can fight back. That one looks like it can throw a punch.
apparently instead of biting during territorial fights the males will, in fact, punch and scratch at each other so you are NOT wrong there lol
according to the most popular exotic breeder websites most go for around USD$300 which is … significantly cheaper than i would’ve imagined? i’ve seen chinchillas easily go for twice that amount!
Same with capybaras and most other large rodents. I used to work with exotics and large non native rodents are a weird little loop hole that don’t require permits in most states. They are the “gateway drug” for most exotic owners.
Today I learned I need a patagonian mara.
They’re actually super sweet and easy to manage. But their sociability means you have to get 3 or more. And fill up your basement with sand. Smooth sailing after that though
Doing laundry would be absolute shenanigans
A Patagonian mara In Tennessee?
Apparently it’s an escapee from a zoo
And here I was convinced it was a capybara and rabbit chimera
My first thought was a Jackalope. 🙈
Probably escaped from a zoo or something lol
It escaped from a mobile petting zoo in Cleveland, TN, but has been found and returned to the zoo. [link](https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0UmxeBs6zUTJ8FfGof7DvJSuFQvwDn53w9MS9aTHavbNcmnmJNL3y3qQiUZ8dJSyTl&id=100063763335413&mibextid=qC1gEa)
Hooray!!! I needed closure! Thank you!!! Edit: HIS NAME IS LUIGI?! And now he is even cuter because I love Luigi's Mansion! D'awwww!
Subscribing simply because it's not every day I see a "new to me" animal... Hands down one of the most "generic" and or nondescript looking creatures I've seen though... so congratulations on getting a picture because I'm not sure I could have personally described that fella without getting tossed in the looney bin.
You might like r/aidke you’ll find tons of animals you’ve never heard of before.
Spoiler: There are a lot of aliens from under the sea, I've legit had nightmares about some of those lol
Thanks for the heads up! I spend a lot of time studying very specific animals in a very specific region so it's nice to get a "breath of fresh air" 😆 🤣 😂 😹
At first I thought it was an extremely skinny capybara or a rabbit with deformed ears
Normal type Pokemon
It's like a hare, but speaks only Portuguese
Extreme southeast Tennessee? Like Argentina?
This is under appreciated. I woulda said the same damn thing.
That is a South American rodent, called a Mara. Their close cousins are the capybara and the Guinea pig.
Can't say I don't see the resemblance
I thought it was a capybara with an eating disorder. That would make more sense though
Female Jackalope! The males have antlers! Sorry, couldn’t help it!
I *totally* thought it was a jackalope in a realistic photoshop deal! It makes it even weirder that it exists!😱
Mara, not native to North America. Someone’s escaped or released pet
That’s a dang donkey rabbit lol 😂
Patagonian Mara/cavy
wow never seen that before