KANSAS CITY, Mo. — An escaped elephant has the Kansas City Zoo on high alert.
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.”
We are currently in an active code red situation with an elephant in an area it should not be. No one is any immediate danger and we are taking all needed steps to bring this situation to a safe resolution. We will update you as information becomes available.
— Kansas City Zoo (@KansasCityZoo) May 29, 2019
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.
