# List of zoo escapes

The following is an incomplete list of notable incidents where one or multiple animals escaped from their enclosures at zoos.

## Austria

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2012 | Salzburg Zoo | Salzburg | Eurasian lynx | One day | A Eurasian lynx named Vivious managed to escape after a storm damaged its enclosure. |

## Canada

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2024 | Greenview Park and Zoo | Morpeth, Ontario | Red kangaroo | 3 hours | A kangaroo escaped the Greenview Zoo by unknown means before being spotted by an Amazon driver and being captured by the Ontario Provincial Police. |
| 2023 | Oshawa Zoo | Oshawa, Ontario | Eastern grey kangaroo | Four days | A kangaroo escaped while being transported by truck. It eluded capture for a week before being captured by Ontario Provincial Police. |
| 2023 | Waddles 'n' Wags Animal Haven | Eganville, Ontario | Serval | Never found | A serval escaped from a roadside zoo and is presumed dead. |
| 2022 | Greater Vancouver Zoo | Langley, British Columbia | Wolf | 2 days | Two wolves escaped from the Greater Vancouver Zoo after a hole was cut in their enclosure. One was recovered safely while the other was struck by a car and killed. |
| 2021 | Papanack Park Zoo | Wendover, Ontario | Kangaroo | Unknown | A kangaroo escaped before being found seriously injured on a highway. It was euthanised. |
| 2019 | Roaring Cat Retreat | Lambton Shores, Ontario | Lion | Unknown | Two lion cubs escaped from an illegal zoo. |
| 2019 | Zoo Sauvage de St-Félicien | Saint-Félicien, Quebec | Wolverine | Never found | |
| 2017 | Chippewa Park Wildlife Exhibit | Thunder Bay, Ontario | Bald eagle | Never found | Two bald eagles escaped after their enclosure was vandalized. One was never found. |
| 2016 | High Park Zoo | Toronto, Ontario | Capybara | 35 days | Two capybara's known as Bonnie and Clyde escaped from the High Park Zoo. One was captured after 19 days while the other remained on the loose for 35 days. |
| 2016 | Papanack Park Zoo | Wendover, Ontario | Lion | 2 hours | A lion managed to escape before being shot by police |
| 2015 | High Park Zoo | Toronto, Ontario | Indian peafowl | 5 days | A peacock escaped his enclosure and explored Toronto before returning to the zoo |
| 2013 | Magnetic Hill Zoo | Moncton, New Brunswick | Indian peafowl | One week | |
| 2013 | Calgary Zoo | Calgary, Alberta | Hippopotamus | Several hours | The two hippopotamus escaped their enclosure during the 2013 flood, but were safely returned by the zoo staff. |
| 2013 | GuZoo Animal Farm | Three Hills, Alberta | Yak, sheep, coyote, ostrich, sika deer | A day | |
| 2009 | Greater Vancouver Zoo | Langley, British Columbia | Blue-and-yellow macaw | Three days | Chuva the macaw escaped his enclosure before hiding in an RV. The RV driver discovered the bird three days later and returned it to the zoo. |
| 2008 | Guha Exotic Animal Reserve | Huntsville, Ontario | Jaguar | 1 day | A six-year-old jaguar escaped from the zoo, attacking a dog before being shot by police. The zoo is now closed. |
| 2007 | Safari Niagara | Stevensville, Ontario | Syrian brown bear | Several hours | |
| 2007 | Bergeron's Exotic Animal Sanctuary | Picton, Ontario | Japanese macaque | 48 hours | Escaped before being tranquillised by a bylaw officer |
| 2006 | Chippewa Wildlife Exhibit | Thunder Bay, Ontario | Wolf | One week | A wolf escaped after jumping over its 8-foot fence. It was shot by police. |
| 1997 | Bear Creek Sanctuary | Barrie, Ontario | Tiger | 2 days | A tiger escaped its enclosure. It was found two days later and tranquillized. |
| 1997 | Lickety Split Ranch and Zoo | London, Ontario | Tiger | 4 hours | |
| 1958 | Storybook Gardens | London, Ontario | California sea lion | 10 days | A sea lion named Slippery managed to escape his enclosure, travelling into the United States before being caught in Toledo, Ohio. |
| 1939 | Calgary Zoo | Calgary, Alberta | California sea lion | 3 months | A sea lion named Buster became a local celebrity after escaping from the Calgary Zoo and travelling through irrigation canals to Chestermere Lake and then to Bassano where he played with children. |

## China

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2021 | Hangzhou Safari Park | Hangzhou | Leopard | Never found | |

## France

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2021 | Trois Vallées zoo | Montredon-Labessonnié | Wolf | Unknown | A pack of wolves escaped after destroying the safety hatches on their enclosure. Four were shot and killed, while five were tranquillized. |
| 2018 | Paris Zoological Park | Paris | Guinea baboon | Several hours | 50 baboons escaped, causing the zoo to be temporarily shut down. |

## Georgia

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2015 | Tbilisi Zoo | Tbilisi | Hippopotamus, tiger, brown bear, pig, lion, hyena | Multiple days | Over half the animals from the Tbilisi zoo either escaped or were killed during the 2015 Tbilisi flood. One of the tigers mauled a man to death while eluding capture. |

## Germany

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2018 | Eifel Zoo | Lünebach | Lion, jaguar, tiger, Eurasian brown bear | Several hours | Multiple animals escaped from the private zoo during a flash flood. One bear was shot and the other animals were captured. |

## Greece

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2022 | Attica Zoological Park | Spata | Chimpanzee | 20 minutes | A zoo came under scrutiny after shooting a chimpanzee that had escaped. |
| 2018 | Attica Zoological Park | Spata | Jaguar | Unknown | |

## Japan

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2016 | Sendai Yagiyama Zoological Park | Sendai | Chimpanzee | Two hours | |
| 2012 | Tokyo Sea Life Park | Tokyo | Humboldt penguin | 82 days | |

## Netherlands

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2007 | Diergaarde Blijdorp | Rotterdam | Western gorilla | Less than a day | Bokito |

## New Zealand

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2016 | National Aquarium of New Zealand | Napier | Common New Zealand octopus | Never found | Inky |
| 2006 | Auckland Zoo | Auckland | Asian small-clawed otter | Almost a month | Jin |
| 2006 | Hamilton Zoo | Hamilton | Red panda | 6 days | Found dead. |
| 2004 | Auckland Zoo | Auckland | Asian elephant | Less than a day | Burma |
| 1925 | Auckland Zoo | Auckland | Leopard | 27 days | Found after drowning in a harbour. |

## Poland

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2023 | Gdańsk Zoo | Gdańsk | Red panda | A few hours | |

## South Korea

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2023 | Children's Grand Park | Seoul | Plains zebra | 3 hours | Following the death of his parents, a plains zebra named Sero escaped from his enclosure and wandered through the streets of Seoul. Sero was tranquillized and brought back to the zoo. |

## Spain

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2010 | Cocodrilo Park | Gran Canaria | Tiger | Unknown | Three tigers escaped a zoo and were shot by police. |

## United Kingdom

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2024 | Dartmoor Zoological Park | Devon, England | Palawan binturong | 19 days | |
| 2024 | Amazon World Zoo Park | Isle of Wight, England | Raccoon | Seven days | Four raccoons escaped, with the last being captured seven days later. |
| 2024 | Hoo Zoo | Shropshire, England | Capybara | One week | |
| 2024 | Highland Wildlife Park | Kingussie, Scotland | Japanese macaque | Five days | The macaque, named Honshu, escaped and survived in the wild for five days before being captured after being found eating from a bird feeder two miles away in Kincraig. |
| 2023 | Newquay Zoo | Cornwall, England | Red panda | One day | |
| 1965 | London Zoo | London, England | Golden eagle | 12 days | Goldie |

## United States

| Year | Zoo | Location | Species | Time loose | Notes |
| 2023-2024 | Central Park Zoo | New York City | Eurasian eagle-owl | One year | Flaco escaped from his enclosure, living in Central Park for a year drawing much attention and eluding attempts at being captured. |
| 2023 | Dallas Zoo | Dallas, Texas | Clouded leopard | Several hours | A clouded leopard named Nova was intentionally let out of her enclosure by a man named Davion Irvin, who also killed a vulture at the zoo and stole two monkeys. |
| 2022 | Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens | Jacksonville, Florida | Black bear | Under an hour | A black bear was shot after escaping its enclosure and attacking a zoo keeper. |
| 2021 | Minnesota Zoo | Apple Valley, Minnesota | Eurasian eagle-owl | 14 days | Gladys |
| 2018 | Audubon Zoo | New Orleans, Louisiana | Jaguar | 1 hour, 35 minutes | A jaguar named Valerio managed to escape his enclosure, entering other enclosures in the zoo and killed four alpacas, one emu, and one fox. The jaguar was tranquillized and was not harmed. |
| 2017 | Smithsonian National Zoo | Washington, D.C. | Bobcat | Two days | |
| 2013 | Smithsonian National Zoo | Washington, D.C. | Red panda | One day | Rusty the red panda escaped from his enclosure around 7:30 am. He was found in the Adams Morgan neighbourhood and rescued from a tree by the local humane society. |
| 2011 | Muskingum County Animal Farm | Zanesville, Ohio | Bengal tiger, black bear, grizzly bear, wolf, macaque, baboon, cougar, lion | One night | See 2011 Zanesville, Ohio animal escape |
| 2011 | Bronx Zoo | New York City | Egyptian cobra | Six days | An Egyptian cobra managed to elude zoo keepers and survive nearly a week outside of its enclosure at the Bronx Zoo. |
| 2007 | San Francisco Zoo | San Francisco, California | Siberian tiger | One night | See San Francisco Zoo tiger attacks |
| 2005 | Sedgwick County Zoo | Wichita, Kansas | Lesser flamingo | 17 years | Two flamingos, Flamingo 492 and 347, escaped their enclosure during a storm. One of the flamingos was last seen in Minnesota, while the other was last seen in 2022 in Port Lavaca, Texas. |
| 1997 | Oakland Zoo | Oakland, California | American bison | Half an hour | |
| 1987 | Tracy Aviary | Salt Lake City, Utah | Chilean flamingo | 18 years | See Pink Floyd the flamingo |
| 1985-1987 | San Diego Zoo | San Diego, California | Bornean orang-utan | Usually under an hour | The orang-utan Ken Allen escaped his enclosure nine times. |
| 1957 | Bronx Zoo | New York City | Platypus | Never found | Penelope |
| 1904 | Bronx Zoo | New York City | Snow leopard | One day | A snow leopard managed to escape Bronx Zoo before being shot. |