Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 11:28 am
Elephant Makes Daring Escape from Zoo
AUCKLAND (Reuters) - An elephant briefly escaped from New Zealand's Auckland zoo on Friday after dropping a log on an electrified fence and crashing through a gate.
Twenty-year-old Burma, one of two elephants at the zoo, was free for about half an hour, forcing some road closures during the morning commuter rush, but posed no threat to people and did no damage to any other property.
The 2.8-ton Asian elephant, which stands about two-and-a-half meters (eight feet) tall, was found in a park behind the zoo and keepers walked her back to her enclosure to join the other elephant.
"When the keepers found her she vocally responded -- it was almost a 'thank goodness you're here'," said Maria Finnegan, the zoo's director of life sciences.
"She was a little shaken and both the girls were clearly happy to be reunited."
Burma had neutralized the electrified fence around the elephant enclosure by dropping a large log onto it, then climbed into a moat and walked along the perimeter fence before pushing through a gate to enter the neighboring park, she said.
"We think it was an opportunistic thing, not a deliberate action, she's realized the fence was not there and then decided to roam...."
Finnegan said the elephants had recently been allowed to roam their enclosure during the warm summer nights, but the zoo would now strengthen the fence and keep the pair indoors overnight under the control of keepers.
AUCKLAND (Reuters) - An elephant briefly escaped from New Zealand's Auckland zoo on Friday after dropping a log on an electrified fence and crashing through a gate.
Twenty-year-old Burma, one of two elephants at the zoo, was free for about half an hour, forcing some road closures during the morning commuter rush, but posed no threat to people and did no damage to any other property.
The 2.8-ton Asian elephant, which stands about two-and-a-half meters (eight feet) tall, was found in a park behind the zoo and keepers walked her back to her enclosure to join the other elephant.
"When the keepers found her she vocally responded -- it was almost a 'thank goodness you're here'," said Maria Finnegan, the zoo's director of life sciences.
"She was a little shaken and both the girls were clearly happy to be reunited."
Burma had neutralized the electrified fence around the elephant enclosure by dropping a large log onto it, then climbed into a moat and walked along the perimeter fence before pushing through a gate to enter the neighboring park, she said.
"We think it was an opportunistic thing, not a deliberate action, she's realized the fence was not there and then decided to roam...."
Finnegan said the elephants had recently been allowed to roam their enclosure during the warm summer nights, but the zoo would now strengthen the fence and keep the pair indoors overnight under the control of keepers.
Elephants should escape and cause destrcution! 
Elephants are just that clever. ^_^
They're smart but still can't understand electricity 