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Escaped elephant has been returned to exhibit at Kansas City Zoo

Posted at 6:35 PM, May 29, 2019
and last updated 2019-05-30 08:02:09-04

An escaped elephant, which had the Kansas City Zoo on high alert, has been returned.

The Zoo tweeted around 3:40 p.m. that it was “in an active code red situation with an elephant in an area it should not be.”

Code red in zoo parlance indicates that a dangerous animal has escaped its enclosure.

“No one is any immediate danger and we are taking all needed steps to bring this situation to a safe resolution,” the KC Zoo wrote on Twitter. “We will update you as information becomes available.”

According to a KC Zoo spokesman, no guests are in the area near the elephant exhibit. The zoo closes at 4 p.m., so staff was in the process of moving guests toward the exits anyway.

A patron at the KC Zoo said people were temporarily sheltered in place at the Africa exhibit. Staff were taking visitors to the exit by golf carts and bus along a different path that the tram bridge.

The elephant was returned to its exhibit shortly before 4:30 p.m. There were no reported injuries.