(SEOUL) A zebra that escaped from its enclosure that had roamed free for hours in central Seoul and became an internet star has returned safely to the zoo, officials told AFP on Friday.
Sero the zebra is back in its enclosure in “stable and healthy condition”, a Seoul Children’s Grand Park official said, after the animal spent three hours on Thursday trotting along roads and dodging cars before finally being cornered by park rangers.
Three-year-old Sero was captured using a security gate after entering a narrow alley and was tranquilised. Photos posted on social media show him being carried, asleep, to the zoo.
PHOTO HANDOUT, AGENCY FRANCE-PRESSE
Sero was carried asleep to the zoo.
Sero was a bit of a ‘mommy’s boy’ and had tantrums before, according to the zoo
He began behaving erratically after his parents died — his mother in 2020 and his father two years later — according to a video posted in January on the zoo’s YouTube channel.
“He didn’t want to go back to his enclosure and got into a fight with a kangaroo,” the video explains.
Caregivers have started giving him special snacks and fruit to try to stop him from “wandering”, she adds, but to no avail.
His brief adventure on the congested streets of Seoul propelled Sero to internet stardom, spawning thousands of Korean-language videos and social media posts.
A video shows Sero calmly walking through a maze of stationary cars, while a witness to the scene exclaims, “Oh, he’s handsome!
Other netizens noted that his escape highlighted the plight of zoo animals.
“I cried after my mom said it might be the first time he has run in a long time,” one person wrote on Twitter.