A one-year-old grizzly bear is safely back behind barriers after getting out of his habitat at the Wilder Institute’s Calgary Zoo on Sunday morning.
Wilder Institute director of animal care, health and welfare Colleen Baird said the bear was first discovered missing during routine early morning checks.
“Our team’s first objective each day is to ensure that our animals are healthy and where they should be,” Baird said.
“Our animal care, health and welfare team quickly activated our emergency response procedures.”
She said Fitz was able to climb above containment barriers within the habitat, adding the response was swift and the animal remained calm throughout.
“There was no risk to public safety as this incident took place before the zoo opened for the day,” she said.
Baird said initial findings suggest the bear accessed an area just outside and above its habitat, but did not leave the immediate vicinity or roam the zoo grounds.
She also emphasized the enclosure’s design and multiple containment layers.
“Animals are contained within layers upon layers of mitigation,” she said. “That habitat is designed to contain a bear.”
She added that Fitz and his brother Turner will remain in a back-of-house space while the investigation continues and habitat adjustments are reviewed.
The zoo opened shortly after 9 a.m., but its Wild Canada area remained temporarily closed while staff completed a full assessment.
Wild Canada reopened to visitors around noon.
“It is a little unusual,” said former large carnivore conflict biologist Jay Honeyman.
“Bears can be pretty determined, and they are very curious, and if there was any kind of a weakness, it would not surprise me that a bear would find that weakness.”
Julie Woodyer, campaigns director for Zoocheck Canada, says the incident raises broader concerns about zoo safety.
“It is unfortunate, and the Calgary Zoo is one of the biggest zoos in Canada and should be able to contain the animals safely, particularly the more dangerous species,” said Woodyer.
She pointed to past incidents at the facility, including animal deaths and other investigations, as part of ongoing concerns.
“It is distressing to see that incidents continue at one of the larger, more esteemed zoos in the country,” she said.
The zoo says it will continue reviewing what happened and may implement targeted habitat improvements once the investigation is complete.
Fitz and his brother Turner were taken in by the Wilder Institute’s Calgary Zoo after being orphaned in southern Alberta last fall.
Their mother was killed during an encounter with a person near Diamond Valley.
Because the cubs were still fully dependent on her, officials determined they would not have survived on their own in the wild.
