The alert was “activated by mistake” and “there was no emergency,” a zoo representative told PEOPLE in a statement
A group of zoo visitors in Australia started the year with a scare.
Visitors to Melbourne Zoo were temporarily shut down on Tuesday after an emergency alarm was accidentally activated, alerting visitors that an animal had escaped, according to several social media posts shared by zoo-goers.
“A fun start to 2024 when I have to leave [Melbourne Zoo] like an animal escaped from its enclosure!” one Melbourne resident, Evelyn Parr, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Parr also noted that her child “keeps saying she wonders what the animal is doing,” adding, “I feel for the zookeepers and I hope they’re safe 🤞🏼.”
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Another zoo visitor, X user Glenn Roberts, said he was told the escaped animal was a baboon.
“Unexpected behind-the-scenes look at Melbourne Zoo…Keeper running is not a good sign,” Roberts wrote on X.
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Roberts also said there was only a partial evacuation, writing that “it was behind the gate, but there were still people in the normal area.”
“Then we were told to just head for the main gate, but everyone was pretty much going about their normal day,” he wrote, noting in another post that it took “about 10 minutes to get back.”
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In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Zoos Victoria said “Melbourne Zoo was closed for less than 10 minutes” after an “emergency alert was mistakenly activated.”
“There was no state of emergency and visitors could continue to enjoy their visit to the zoo,” the statement said.
Zoos Victoria shared an almost identical statement to Parra on Xu, adding that they were “checking how the alert was activated and apologize for the inconvenience.”
Parr denied the organization in a response, writing: “We definitely couldn’t stay at the zoo.”
“We were asked to exit without a re-entry timetable,” she said, adding: “I’m glad it was just a mistake, but our day ended early.”
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Elsewhere on X, Zoos Victoria clarified that “no animals escaped.”
“Our process is to take immediate action while the situation is assessed,” the post said. “Today’s short lockout was standard practice.”
Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education