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True Story
Bear escapes from zoo!
This is a true story of a bear that escaped from his compound in the Berlin Zoo in 2004.
Juan was a large Andean spectacled bear. Andean bears come from South America. It has black fur with light colouring across its face and upper chest, making it look as if it is wearing spectacles.
One day, Juan must have got bored staying in his compound all the time so he decided to get out and explore. His compound was separated from visitors by water, also called a moat. This prevented the bear from leaving his compound. However, that did not stop Juan. He got on to a log and floated across the moat!
After he had crossed the moat, he climbed over a wall and ran off to freedom. Where do you think Juan went? Well, his first stop was the children’ s playground in the zoo.
Unfortunately, his presence frightened all the parents who were there. They quickly grabbed their children to take them to safety. Then they stood far away and watched Juan in amazement.
By then, Juan had got on to the merry-go-round and was enjoying a ride. Then he obviously had enough and got off the merry-go-round, clambered up a nearby slide and slid down.
After a while, he got bored playing on his own and wandered off to see what else he could find. Soon he came across a bicycle belonging to a zoo keeper.
Juan stopped and inspected the bicycle. By that time, the keepers were watching him. They had been alerted that Juan had escaped his compound. Juan looked as if he were going to use the bicycle and ride out of the park.
However, just at that moment, the animal handlers shot him with a tranquilizer. With Juan safely sound asleep, they carried him back to his compound.
An Andean spectacled bear
Kuribo
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