In a scene on Tuesday afternoon that surely resembled something out of a Jurassic Park movie, visitors at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha got a chance to get up close and personal with one of the animals. Actually, a little too close for comfort.

An Indian rhinoceros managed to escape its enclosure at the zoo during the afternoon of (September 7), resulting in people running for shelter.

Dakota News Now is reporting the zoo immediately enacted emergency protocols, and all guests, students, and staff were taken to a secure location until the animal was contained.

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It sounds like Henry Doorly Zoo workers definitely earned their pay on Tuesday...

Getting the animal back into its enclosure. According to the report, zookeepers and officials were forced to use motor vehicles, along with the zoo's tram, to barricade the rhino from wandering further from the zoo's Asian Highlands rhino exhibit.

Much like when you're trying to entice your dog to do something it doesn't want to do, staff members used food and other tactics to get the rhino to cooperate. After nearly 50 minutes, the escaped rhino was back in its proper enclosure, and the zoo was able to return to normal operations within 90 minutes of incident happening.

How did the rhino break loose?...

Dakota News Now reports the animal was able to nudge the gate to its enclosure open due to the fact the gate didn't lock quite right.

Anyone that has ever visited the Henry Doorly Zoo knows it is one of the finest zoo's in the upper Midwest. Their professionalism was on full display on Tuesday, as no people or animals were hurt during the recapture process.

Heck, even the rhino himself was on his best behavior during his brief escape. Zookeepers reported the animal showed no signs of aggression, but officials were prepared to tranquilize the rhino had it managed to wander beyond the vehicle barricade they set up.

As a result of Tuesday's incident, Dakota News Now reports the Henry Doorly Zoo plans to put up a secondary gate around the rhino exhibit enclosure area. A number of other animal enclosures at the Henry Doorly Zoo already have secondary gates in place.

Source: Dakota News Now

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