Unfortunately, his early escape efforts attracted too much attention from authorities, who are now bolting down all the moveable objects in the exhibit and replacing the partially shattered pane of bear-proof glass.
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“One of the stories we have is polar bears getting up on a cliff and hurling great chunks of ice down on something like a walrus to kill it”, Mr. Shumaker said.
But bears are notoriously smart, and it’s not hard to imagine this bear knew there was something interesting on the other side of the glass.
Witness Robin Ficker took this photograph of the aftermath of the incident on Monday.
Nothing like this has happened since the three orphaned bears arrived from Alaska in 2008. It was just a short distance.
He said the bears must’ve loosened the rock then used to smash the window. And the first time he threw it, it cracked.
It’s thought that the bear responsible was an adult male, that can weigh up to 900lbs.
Ficker also claims that he didn’t see anyone do anything to provoke the bear nor did he engage in heckling the animals.
“I don’t think the zoo ever anticipated this”, he said on Facebook. These were healthy, young, strong bears.
A grizzly bear at the Minnesota Zoo had enough of life in captivity. “They’re always busy on our exhibit doing something, digging”.
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The bears have been removed from their exhibit and won’t be back for a few days until a replacement pane can be installed.
