Animal Escape At Roger Williams Park Zoo

An 800-lb animal got loose Monday morning at Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence.

As the zoo posted yesterday on their Facebook page, the 800-lb Takin named Har-Lee broke out of its enclosure shortly after 9 a.m. while a team of vets were trying to perform a routine hoof procedure.

I guess the big guy wasn't feeling it that day and responded to their attempts by charging the heavy reinforced doors to its enclosure several times. As 800-lbs of charging animal is likely to do, the doors eventually gave way and the Takin got out into the zoo grounds.

A recapture team was immediately called, the Takin was successfully sedated and then taken back to its enclosure. He was back by 9:55 a.m. and the zoo didn't open until 10:15 a.m.

The zoo reports that the Takin is doing just fine, but remained off exhibit for the day.

Providence police and first responders were notified of the escape and two zoo staff members, an animal keeper and a veterinary intern, were injured during the incident. Neither injury was life threatening and both staff members were treated by EMTs on the scene.

As a member and frequent visitor of Roger Williams Park Zoo, this story surprised me a little. In all the times I've seen the Takin, they never really seemed that aggressive. They mostly just lay around when I see them.

Clearly it was a bad morning for the animal, which is among those considered vulnerable in the wild. They run the risk of being put on the endangered list due to loss of natural habitats, which are the mountainous regions of the Himalayan Mountains and western China.