Melbourne Zoo Went into Lockdown After False Alarm Made Visitors Think Animal Was on the Loose
The alert was "mistakenly activated," and "there was no emergency," a rep for the zoo told PEOPLE in a statement
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Melbourne ZooA group of zoogoers in Australia started the year with a fright.
On Tuesday, visitors at the Melbourne Zoo went into temporary lockdown after an emergency alarm was accidentally triggered, informing patrons that an animal had escaped, according to several social media posts shared by zoogoers.
“Fun start to 2024 having to leave [Melbourne Zoo] as an animal had escaped its enclosure!” one Melbourne resident, Evelyn Parr, wrote in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Parr also noted that her child “keeps saying he wonders what the animal is doing,” adding, “I feel for the zookeepers and hope they’re safe 🤞🏼.”
Related: Gretchen the Cheetah Briefly Escapes from Her Enclosure at Omaha Zoo
Another zoogoer, X user Glenn Roberts, said he was told the escaped animal was a baboon.
“An unexpected behind the scenes look at Melbourne Zoo.... Keepers running isn't a good sign,” Roberts wrote on X.
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Roberts also said that only a partial evacuation occurred, writing that he was “behind a gate but there was still people in the normal area.”
“We were then told only to head toward the main gate but everyone was pretty much going about their normal day,” he wrote, noting in a different post that it took “about 10 minutes to get it back in.”
Related: Ben the Bear Escapes from His Enclosure at the St. Louis Zoo for the Second Time in a Month
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, Zoos Victoria said that “Melbourne Zoo went into lockdown for less than 10 minutes” after “an Emergency Alert was mistakenly activated.”
"There was no emergency and visitors were able to continue enjoying their Zoo visit,” the statement read.
Zoos Victoria shared a nearly identical statement with Parr on X, and added that they “are reviewing how the alert was activated, and apologise for any inconvenience.”
Parr refuted the organization in a response, writing, “We were definitely not able to stay at the zoo.”
“Were asked to exit with no timeline of re-entry,” she said, adding, “Glad it was just a mistake but it ended our day early.”
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Elsewhere on X, Zoos Victoria clarified that “no animals escaped.”
"Our process is to immediately action emergency procedures while the situation is assessed,” the post read. “Today's brief lockdown was standard practice.”
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