Yes, several animals have escaped from Belfast Zoo over the years, including a red panda, spider monkeys, chimpanzees, and macaques. Notable incidents include Amber the Red Panda (2019), a spider monkey that died on the M2 motorway (2018), and multiple escapes by lion-tailed macaques and chimpanzees.
Rose and Zoid, the Lion-Tailed Macaques. In 2015, two Lion-Tailed Macaques escaped from the zoo. ...
White-nosed Coati. In 2010, a female white-nosed coati, a new introduction to Belfast zoo, escaped from the quarantine area in which she was being temporarily held. ...
“A male Bengali tiger has escaped from its enclosure in Belfast Zoo and a search is currently being undertaken. It is recommended that homeowners in the vicinity remain calm and lock windows and doors. Please safely lock up any pets.”
The episode had some viewers wondering whether this was the story of Peter the polar bear, or whether a separate polar bear had escaped the zoo at the time the show is set - the '90s. The answer is neither, as the plot was a fictional storyline inspired by the real Peter incident, which took place in the '70s.
In the early 2000s, western lowland gorilla Evelyn took advantage of the Los Angeles Zoo's need for a renovation by escaping her enclosure not once, not twice, but at least four times. Her escapades leveraged the fact that her habitat was designed to house bears, not great apes.
Chimpanzee Escapes from Belfast Zoo | Animal Escape
What animals escaped the zoo in the UK?
In the last 12 months animals to escape from UK zoos include meerkats, ring-tailed lemurs, a barn owl, a bald eagle, ibis and macaws. Outside the UK, three chimps were tragically shot after escaping from their enclosure in a Swedish zoo in December last year.
When an animal escapes, guests are immediately evacuated from the area and escorted to secured buildings on zoo grounds by the zoo's emergency response team (veterinarians armed with tranquilizer equipment, zoo firearms team and animal management staff).
Belfast Zoo stopped keeping elephants because its enclosures failed to meet modern standards, lacking features like a pool and requiring modernization, prompting the zoo to move its two elderly Asian elephants, Dhunja and Yhetto, to a specialized retirement facility in the Netherlands in July 2024 for better geriatric care. The decision was based on inspections that found shortcomings, leading the zoo to phase elephants out of its future collection plan to prioritize animal welfare and conservation efforts for other species.
Although fictional, Derry Girls does justice to the Northern Irish public because it makes their daily lives and personal issues important, putting them in the context of the Troubles but not entirely defining Northern Irish people by their religion or political persuasion.
🐯 Belfast Zoo has said a fond farewell to Sumatran tigers, Kabus and Kinabalu, who have moved to new homes as part of a European Endangered Species breeding programme. Kabus was born in Chessington Zoo on 20 February 2008 and arrived at Belfast Zoo in 2009.
Belfast Zoo is closed after E. coli was found in a water sample from the site. The zoo closed on Tuesday as a "precautionary measure", operators Belfast City Council said, while the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the council's environmental health team carry out more sampling.
Did the Belfast Zoo keeper get locked in with lions?
The individual who was left with the lions – for a duration that is unclear – was understood to be part of a Northern Ireland training scheme for young people and unemployed people aged 50 to 64, the Belfast Telegraph reported. It quoted a source who expressed shock at the incident.
It was with great sadness that in December, The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee announced the sudden and unexpected passing of African elephant Donna, age 44, on December 24.
A spokesperson from West Midlands Police have said "we were called to an incident at 8m regarding an escaped lion at Dudley zoo, on arrival we spotted a nervous and very scared lion.... we would like to point out that the lion is in no immediate danger from the people of Dudley.
Asian elephants, Dhunja and Yhetto, have been a huge part of the zoo family for over fifteen years and will soon move to their new home at Burger's Zoo in Arnhem, Netherlands.
What happened to the boy who fell in gorilla Enclosure in 1996?
The boy, who's never been publicly named, spent four days in the hospital, but only suffered a broken hand and facial cuts. In the wake of the five-minute incident, Binti Jua became an ever greater attraction at the zoo and was showered with gifts and letters from around the world.
Whereas official road signs in the Republic use the name Derry, those in Northern Ireland bear Londonderry (sometimes abbreviated to L'derry), although some of these have been defaced with the reference to London obscured. Usage varies among local organisations, with both names being used.
You see, Peter died aged 30 at Belfast Zoo in 1972, the bloodiest year of our conflict. But he expired on an extremely rare day in Northern Ireland at that time.
The UK has seen several recent zoo closures, with Axe Valley Wildlife Park in Devon permanently closing in October 2025 due to financial difficulties, while the historic Bristol Zoo Gardens closed its original site in 2022 to relocate and develop its new Bristol Zoo Project. Additionally, South Lakes Safari Zoo closed at the end of 2024 after facing welfare issues and financial struggles, and Cumbria Safari Zoo (now known as South Lakes Safari Zoo) also closed around late 2024, with concerns raised about animal welfare.
Anything remaining will be cremated, including even the tiniest of animals. “Everything from guppies to elephants is incinerated,” says Neiffer. While burials were once commonplace at zoos, very few bury their animals anymore.
A kick from a zebra can kill — and these creatures are responsible for more injuries to American zookeepers each year than any other animal. Pity the poor human, therefore, who might try to domesticate a zebra in the wild. During the colonial era, some adventurous Europeans tried to harness this African horse.
Twenty years ago, Little Joe, a 300-pound silverback gorilla, escaped his enclosure at Boston's Franklin Park Zoo and attacked a young girl. being captured nearly two hours later. "He pushed the door open and he, like, swung me from my babysitter's hip,” Scott recalled during a 2016 interview.
So how did the countries perform in 2020? Overall, the three countries that the 2020 VACI ranked the highest (i.e. the least cruel) were India, the United Republic of Tanzania, and Kenya. Those ranked the lowest were the United States, Australia and Belarus.
