Two escaped wolves captured at Amersfoort Zoo

Two wolves escaped from their enclosure at the Amersfoort Zoo on Monday. Visitors at the zoo heard from zookeepers that one animal had escaped, but when the animals were recaptured the park announced on Facebook that it was two wolves. The wolves were sedated and then returned to their shelter. The zoo could not be reached for an explanation.

It is not yet clear how the wolves managed to escape from their enclosure. They were walking around at the rear of the park. The police issued a report through the citizen alert system, Burgernet, as several disturbed calls came in from the park. At the zoo, visitors were warned via a public address system to get indoors. The situation was brought under control after about 45 minutes.

Visitors mainly had to go inside so that the keepers could quietly approach the escaped wolves, according to the zoo. There never was any danger as wolves are more afraid of humans than vice versa, the park said. But a wolf kept in captivity can react unpredictably, according to wolf expert Glenn Lelieveld from the Zoogdiervereniging. He said that a wolf that has been locked up can become very troublesome.

Zoos have protocols dictating what what to do when an animal escapes. Last November, two chimpanzees escaped from their enclosures at the same zoo. That happened after a caretaker failed to close a door properly. The chimpanzees were shot because they were aggressive to zoo employees. Anesthetizing the animals would have taken too much time, research showed. At the time, the situation was life threatening, experts said.