Security video captures Alice the elephant’s great escape
By Peyton Spellacy
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ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico (KOAT) — BioPark Zoo staff addressed the elephant, not in the room, but on the public walkway. The 52-year-old Asian elephant, Alice, escaped from her habitat Sunday morning, spending time in a public area before safely returning to her enclosure.
Security video captured Alice taking a calm Sunday morning stroll down Main Street, sniffing the map and playing tourist at home for the day, and stopping too much on the trees.
Alice escaped through a welded pillar gate in the water pond section of her habitat, which is currently off-limits as welders repair it. She then trampled another bamboo fence to reach Main Street.
Brandon Gibson, director of the BioPark, said, “The 8,000-pound elephant somehow squeezed through this opening, knocking down this fence, just to take a stroll down Main Street. She’s over 8,000 pounds. She’s definitely able to use some force.”
Officials said the section of fence Alice escaped through hadn’t been updated in nearly 20 years.
“Not only has that section been repaired, it’s also been reinforced. So we’ve added some more pillars and steel,” Gibson said. “We’ve also reassessed the perimeter, looking for any more areas that may be weak points. So it’s something that we’re monitoring daily.”
Zoo staff continues to inspect other habitats for weak spots, using Gross Receipts Tax money to modernize them.
Staff responded to Alice’s escape in just 10 minutes, using the same recall method she’s trained with.
Gibson said, “We were able to secure the perimeter, have our zookeepers come and start recalling her back. It has been a very long time since any animal has escaped a perimeter containment at the BioPark. I think it’s looking back decades and decades. I think the BioPark is a very safe place to be, and I think this incident shows that all of our measures and tools worked. Staff was safe, the public was safe, and Alice the elephant was safe.”
After her adventurous Sunday morning stroll, Alice spent the rest of the day relaxing. Zoo staff said her behavior is back to normal Monday.
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