Zoo officials say a wild bear that killed a small deer at Moncton’s Magnetic Hill Zoo climbed two fences to gain access to the pen.
Staff are now reviewing their policies but say not much could have been done to stop the bear from breaking into the pen.
“It appears he scaled our seven-foot-high perimeter fence and got into the zoo and scaled a six-foot fence into the Muntjac exhibit, probably pretty close to daybreak,” says Bruce Dougan, the zoo’s general manager.
After climbing into the pen, the bear attacked and killed a small Reeves Muntjac, also known as a barking deer, which is typically found in southeast Asia.
Zoo employees found the bear in the deer’s pen Monday morning and alerted the Department of Natural Resources.
Officers were dispatched to the site and, after assessing the situation, they decided to euthanize the bear as a safety precaution.
Dougan says the bear has been seen on the outskirts of the property over the last few weeks and an attempt had been made to live trap it.
He says the DNR officers decided to shoot it because it had become more aggressive and had lost its fear of humans.
Wine-maker Jeff Everette says the animal had also been visiting his vineyard in recent weeks.
“One night I heard a noise and I looked out the window and I thought, that is one big raccoon, and discovered it had to have been a bear standing up with his hands up, trying to shake a full tank of wine,’ says Everette.
News of a wild bear breaking into the zoo came as a surprise to visitor Greg Donald.
“To hear that a bear has broken into the zoo is a little ironic, and a little concerning,” says Donald.
Zoo officials are reviewing safety and security measures but consider the incident to be an isolated one. Dougan says, in 40 years of working at zoos, he has never seen anything like it.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Jonathan MacInnis
