Zebra Escaped from Children's Grand Park Captured After Seven Tranquilizer Shots Fired

Captured in a Residential Alley... Returned 3 Hours After Escape

On the afternoon of the 23rd, firefighters attempted to capture a zebra that escaped from Children's Grand Park in a residential area of Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

A zebra that escaped from Seoul Children's Grand Park wandered around nearby roads and residential areas before being tranquilized and returned to the zoo after about three hours.

According to Yonhap News on the 23rd, at around 2:40 p.m. that day, a male zebra named 'Sero,' born in 2021, broke through the wooden deck near the enclosure at the Children's Grand Park Zoo in Neung-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, and escaped. Sero wandered around roads and residential areas for about 20 minutes before being surrounded by police, fire authorities, and park keepers in an alleyway in Guui-dong, Gwangjin-gu, about 1 km away from the zoo.

The police and others set up safety fences around Sero and used a firearm-type tranquilizer device called a 'Blue Gun' to inject muscle relaxants seven times. After being sedated and collapsing, Sero was covered with a gray cloth and loaded onto a cargo truck to be returned to the zoo. The commotion ended at around 6:10 p.m., 3 hours and 30 minutes after the escape, with no reported casualties or property damage.

That afternoon, photos and videos of the zebra roaming around Seoul quickly spread on social media (SNS), and dozens of onlookers gathered at the zebra capture site.

On the afternoon of the 23rd, citizens in a residential area of Jayang-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, are watching the capture of a zebra that escaped from Children's Grand Park.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

According to a Children's Grand Park official, Sero was born at the Children's Grand Park in 2021. The park official said, "We will thoroughly investigate the cause of the escape and do our best to prevent recurrence," adding, "Veterinarians and keepers at the Grand Park will take full responsibility for caring for the zebra's health."

Meanwhile, in April 2005, six elephants escaped during a performance at Children's Grand Park, causing a commotion in the nearby area for about five hours.

At that time, three of the elephants were caught near the escape site shortly after and immediately returned to Children's Grand Park, but the remaining three broke the glass door of a restaurant and entered all at once, causing a disturbance by damaging furniture before being pulled out by police and firefighters.

During this incident, a pedestrian in their 50s was injured after colliding with one of the escaped elephants, falling, and having their chest stepped on by the elephant, resulting in broken ribs. The elephants running onto the road also caused severe traffic congestion.