Five-year-old Madison Jones of Maryville observes a new 11-month-old black bear cub at the Knoxville Zoo's Black Bear Falls exhibit in December. Photo by Amy Smotherman Burgess/New SentinelKNOXVILLE (News Sentinel) -
The Knoxville Zoo had an unexpected break-in Monday night — from a wandering black bear.
While zoos are always alert to keep their exotic animals safely inside their habitats, they rarely experience a wild animal the size of a bear wanting to get inside their boundaries.
It was about midnight when a zoo ranger spotted a young black bear scaling the 10-foot-high chain-link and barbed wire of the zoo's perimeter fence. A neighbor had alerted the zoo a bear had been seen in the Chilhowee Park area, zoo spokeswoman Tina Rolen said today.
A zoo ranger headed to the park area near its herpetology building and close to Chilhowee Park's East Tennessee Discovery Center. The ranger saw the bear — described as a youngster weighing maybe 150 pounds — in Chilhowee Park.
Read more from our news partners the Knoxville News Sentinel.
