A black bear at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens in Jacksonville, Florida, escaped its exhibit and attacked a zookeeper Wednesday.
The zookeeper made an emergency radio call and the bear was later shot and killed by the zoo’s lethal weapons team, according to a Facebook post by the zoo. The attack happened “behind the scenes” at the zoo.
An American black bear, that escaped an exhibit at Jacksonville Zoo and attacked a zookeeper, was fatally shot by workers. https://t.co/SuWIXJjZof
— CBS4 Miami (@CBSMiami) December 22, 2022
“Our highest priority is always the safety of human lives, therefore, the bear was shot and killed,” the post reads. “We will be conducting an ongoing investigation over the coming days and weeks.”
The bear was a 5-year-old American black bear named Johnny in the wild Florida exhibit, according to FirstCoast News.
The zookeeper who was attacked was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, FirstCoast News reported. The zoo was closed at the time of the attack. (RELATED: Bear Breaks Into Tennessee Cabin, Brutally Attacks Man Inside)
“We do not take this lightly. It is profoundly painful when we have a loss of an animal, especially under circumstances such as this,” the Zoo added in the Facebook post.
The Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller for comment.