Zoo fixing bear pen to quell escape fears

The Toronto Zoo is in the process of making emergency repairs to its 35-year-old bear exhibit after Samson, the 1,000-pound grizzly, tore some wooden cladding off his enclosure this week, sparking concerns that he could have escaped.

The CEO of the zoo insists public safety was never jeopardized, but staff and board members say the incident was a close call that highlights the need to put more effort into maintaining the attraction's aging facilities.

It all started overnight Monday when Shintay, Samson's female companion, was found to have been digging in the exhibit.

Peter Evans, zoo CEO, said this is typical grizzly pre-hibernation behaviour, but said Shintay was nevertheless moved to a holding pen.

"I think the concern was that she was probably close to the hot wires," he said.

However the removal of Shintay seems to have set off 11-year-old Samson, who clawed apart a wooden covered section at the end of his living quarters in the Canadian Wilderness area, prompting concerns he nearly broke free.

"The palisades that were ripped off, they're just decoration. We'll put up steel plates where we think they're needed. We'll repair the exhibit," Mr. Evans said. "In order to address any concerns for safety, for the exhibit, the female bear will be moved to the holding that we have in the quarantine area and hopefully all of those repairs are completed in the next little while. Everything will be completed next week, Wednesday at the very latest."

Escape is too strong a word for what almost happened, Mr. Evans said.

"I personally am satisfied that we don't have any safety issues," he said. "This is all typical behaviour at this time of the year. They would typically prepare for the winter and winter hibernation with a little bit of digging in preparing a den. None of that is really any different than it's been in past years."

But councillor Paul Ainslie (Scarborough East), a member of the zoo board, said he is just glad the park was closed when the animals ripped up the exhibit.

"I guess my first thought, when I heard of it, was thankfully it didn't happen during business hours so we didn't have any paying customers who were potentially harmed," he said. "It does have me concerned about our state of good repair, which is at $80-million."

With fundraising efforts falling short and budget pressures next year, Mr. Ainslie said he has concerns the zoo's ambitious expansion plans could come at the cost of maintaining its aging infrastructure, some of which is nearly 40 years old.

"We're looking at moving forward on new ideas like giant pandas potentially at the expense of pushing back other things that need to be done, like the Canadian wilderness exhibit," he said. "The bear almost getting out of its enclosure is the perfect example for me that we need to be paying more attention at the zoo to our state of good repair, taking care of what we have and making sure it's properly maintained."

Incidentally, councillor Giorgio Mammoliti ( York West), is in China seeking to reconfirm a pledge of giant pandas to Toronto from its sister zoo in Chongqing.

The mission was controversial because of its $28,000 cost and criticism it would be ineffective because only Ottawa can secure the loan.

In a statement released by his office Thursday, Mr. Mammoliti acknowledged federal government intervention is required to seal the deal.

"The decision to loan the Toronto Zoo a pair of breeding giant pandas can only be made by China's central government in consultation with the government of Canada," he said. "Ideally, giant Pandas will be a topic of conversation on Prime Minister [Stephen] Harper's visit to China in early December."