Andrew Jeong
Seoul - Sero, a 3-year-old zebra that escaped from the Seoul Children’s Grand Park zoo this week, had a rebellious streak that was already evident before he was filmed trotting through the city in viral videos, startling passers-by and drivers.
The young male equine, born in captivity in 2019, had a change of behaviour after the deaths of both his parents, zoo officials said.
Sero started refusing to eat the apples and carrots that he once loved. He also began quarrelling with the kangaroos living in the next enclosure, the officials said in a video.
Sero escaped from his enclosure on Thursday afternoon, breaking through the wooden fences surrounding his pen, according to South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
After his escape, Sero walked around the busy streets of Seoul, a densely populated city of about 10 million, to the shock of witnesses.
Right before his capture, Sero was trotting back and forth on a narrow street lined with multifamily brick homes, according to video footage.
Sero was first reported missing by the zoo at about 2.43pm Seoul time. Firefighters located him in an alleyway 1km from his enclosure, near a bicycle they suspect he had broken, according to the Gwangjin Fire Station.
Firefighters blocked the alley entrances so Sero would not return to the busy streets, potentially endangering himself and pedestrians.
Sero was sedated and captured three hours later. No people were hurt during his escapade.
Sero is healthy and is now back in his enclosure, said Choi Ye-ra, a zoo official. She said the zoo was reviewing camera footage and investigating what led to his breakout.
Zebras live up to 20 years in the wild and up to 40 years in captivity, according to the African Wildlife Foundation, a conservationist group based in Nairobi. - The Washington Post
The Independent on Saturday