Escape-artist zebra back at zoo after Seoul adventure

Mar 23, 2023

Sero, who was born in 2019, was described by the zoo as a "mummy's boy" who had previously been misbehaving. 

Sero, aged 3, was caught using a safety fence after he entered a narrow alleyway and was tranquilized; photographs posted on social media showed him being transported, while sleeping, back to the zoo.

AFP .
@New Vision

SOUTH KOREA | ZEBRA | ZOO

SEOUL — A zebra that escaped its pen and roamed freely through the South Korean capital for hours, captivating the internet and inspiring thousands of memes, has been safely returned to the zoo, officials said Friday.

Sero the zebra is back in his pen in a "stable, healthy, and sound condition," an official at the Seoul Children's Grand Park said, after the animal spent three hours trotting along roads and dodging cars before he was finally cornered by park wardens.

Sero, aged 3, was caught using a safety fence after he entered a narrow alleyway and was tranquilized; photographs posted on social media showed him being transported, while sleeping, back to the zoo.

Sero, who was born in 2019, was described by the zoo as a "mummy's boy" who had previously been misbehaving.

He started behaving erratically after his parents died, his mother in 2020 and his father just last year, according to a video posted on the zoo's YouTube channel in January.

"He refused to return to his pen and fought with a kangaroo," according to the video.

His caretakers started hand-feeding him special snacks and fruit to try and stop him from "straying," it added—an effort that failed.

His brief adventure on the mean streets of Seoul catapulted Sero to internet fame, spawning thousands of videos and memes on Korean-language social media platforms.

One video shows Sero walking calmly through a maze of cars waiting at a stop sign, as an eyewitness says: "Oh, he's handsome!"

Other social media users said his escape highlighted the plight of zoo animals.

"I cried after my mum said it could have been the first time for him to run in a long time," one Twitter user wrote.

A photograph of a delivery worker on a motorbike facing the zebra in a narrow alleyway went viral with a caption saying: "Did you order food?"

 

Comments

No Comment


(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});