Brown bear breaks into Alaska zoo, kills popular alpaca

A wild brown bear tunnelled under a perimeter fence and killed a popular alpaca at the Alaska Zoo in Anchorage, authorities said Wednesday. The bear was killed a day later by wildlife officials.

The bear had been prowling the zoo, knocking over trash cans and breaking bear-proof latches before passing under the fence early Sunday morning when the facility was closed to the public.

“He went through the zoo and killed our oldest male alpaca, Caesar,” said CEO Patrick Lampi. “He was a crowd favorite.”

He said the 16-year-old alpaca had come to the zoo when he was one year old.

Caesar’s partner, a younger alpaca named Fuzzy Charlie, escaped and was found unharmed.

Alaska Fish and Game officials helped search for the bear at the zoo after it killed Caesar. They used farsighted infrared goggles, but the bear had left the zoo.

“We made sure that all of our animals were where they belong, that all of our bears were still in their enclosure and that our tigers and all other animals were unharmed,” Lampi said.

Fish and Game officials installed cameras to monitor the bear’s return. He was killed the second time he returned.

Lampi said that everyone was sorry they had to euthanize the bear.

“It was a strange incident,” he said.

The zoo is located near the foothills of the Chugach Mountains.

“Occasionally there are bears in the area, but they are generally not a problem,” Lampi said. “This one had just developed some bad habits.”

– Associated Press