A zoo was forced to close for the second time in ten months after two wolves escaped from their enclosures.
It is the latest setback for the Amersfoort attraction in the Netherlands after two chimpanzees were shot dead after somehow slipping out of their enclosure in November.
The gates were again temporarily closed on Monday after visitors spotted the animals roaming around the park.
Guests already enjoying the zoo were told to stay inside while staff worked to track down the wolves.
Eric Bax told RTL Nieuws he saw one of them while he was visiting with his girlfriend and his young son.
“Suddenly we saw a wolf walking through the bushes – I grabbed my son and ran off,” he said.
“My girlfriend called the police straight away and together with some other visitors we put up a barricade.”
Dierenpark Amersfoort said it would investigate how the wolves managed to escape – and then claimed the animal isn’t a danger to visitors anyway.
“The situation has been brought under control,” a spokesman said. “The two animals were isolated, sedated and taken back to their enclosure.
“A wolf is not dangerous to visitors. They don’t attack people.
“We asked our visitors to go inside and ensure the situation was as calm as possible so that we could bring the situation to an end.”
It comes less than a year after zoo officials shot two chimpanzees named Mike and Karibuna after they jumped out of their enclosure.
Zoo bosses initiated their Animal Escaped’ protocol as quickly as possible, which states the safety of visitors and staff are the top priority.
A statement last year read: “It’s a black day for Animal Park Amersfoort. We therefore deeply regret this situation. The two chimps, Mike and Karibuna, have been part of the chimpanzee group in our park for a long time.
“For our employees and visitors we offer victim assistance. We ask visitors who were at the moment of the event in our park to report to us, we would love to get in touch with them.”
“To prevent further escalation, these two male chimps were shot dead.
“The first conclusions are that we are dealing with a human error around closing the accommodations, which made two monkeys come out of the accommodation.
“In the next few days, further investigation will be carried out on the cause. At the moment we have found that there are no technical flaws in the stay.
“The two chimpanzees were seen almost immediately after the escape by our behind the scenes animal caregivers.”