Black bear fatally shot after escaping Florida zoo exhibit, attacking zookeeper

A black bear was shot and killed at a Jacksonville, Florida, zoo Wednesday evening after escaping its enclosure and attacking a zookeeper.

At around 5:10 p.m., Jonny, a 5-year-old North American black bear, escaped its exhibit at Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens, and proceeded to attack a zookeeper. An emergency radio call went out, and the zoo’s lethal weapons team came and shot Jonny, who would return to his enclosure before dying.

“Our highest priority is always the safety of human lives, therefore, the bear was shot and killed … It is profoundly painful when we have a loss of an animal, especially under circumstances such as this,” the zoo wrote in a statement on Facebook.

The Jacksonville Fire and Rescue Department told WTLV-TV, a Jacksonville NBC affiliate, that one person was taken to a nearby hospital, and is expected to be OK.

“The keeper at this time does not appear to have life-threatening injuries, but was transported to the hospital for further evaluation,” Jacksonville Zoo Director of Marketing Kelly Rouillard told WJXT-TV, an independent local Jacksonville TV station.

Zoo staff, meanwhile, are somber at the loss of one of the facility’s animals.

“Our animal care team has cared for these animals for years. So this is something that is very disheartening to us to have to face a situation like this,” Ms. Rouillard told WTLV-TV.

Jonny was one of two black bears at the zoo, having arrived there in 2017.