Grizzly bear escapes Calgary Zoo enclosure, recaptured

A one-year-old grizzly bear named Fitz escaped from his habitat at the Wilder Institute's Calgary Zoo on Sunday morning, triggering an emergency response before he was safely recaptured and returned to a secure area. The incident occurred at approximately 7:30 a.m. local time, about 90 minutes before the zoo was scheduled to open to the public. No injuries were reported to guests, staff, volunteers, or other animals.

Zoo officials stated that emergency response procedures were immediately activated upon the escape. Trained animal care, health and welfare, and security teams responded quickly to locate the bear. Fitz was successfully immobilized and relocated to a back-of-house space. As of Monday, the exact method by which the young grizzly managed to leave his enclosure remained under investigation. "Our teams are reviewing the circumstances of the incident as part of our established post-incident procedures," the zoo said in a statement.

The zoo opened to the public shortly after 9 a.m., but the Wild Canada exhibit section where the grizzly bear enclosure is located was temporarily closed while teams completed a full assessment of the area. The Wild Canada section was reopened...