Calgary zoo says Fitz the grizzly scaled three-metre wire fence to escape enclosure

CALGARY – A grizzly bear cub that escaped its enclosure at the Calgary zoo over the weekend did so by scaling a three-metre wire and mesh fence.

Colleen Baird, director of animal care at the Wilder Institute’s Calgary Zoo, says staff are looking at ways to tighten security but that there are enough checks and redundant safety procedures in place.

“It’s safe to come to the zoo,” Baird told reporters Monday.

Baird said Fitz, the one-year-old bear, managed to climb over the fence, which is more than two metres tall with an extra metre on top that slopes inward.

A morning check by staff Sunday around 7:30 a.m. – before the zoo opened – found Fitz was free.

Shortly after, he was discovered near his enclosure. He was anesthetized and returned safely to his habitat by 9 a.m.

Police said officers were called to provide support during the capture, but they remained outside the zoo and were not needed.

Baird said there’s no physical evidence or security camera footage to indicate that the cub had wandered the zoo grounds.

“We would have seen other evidence,” Baird said. “Bears are destructive. There’s lots of mud and muck. We would have seen footprints.

“I’m very confident this bear was not travelling around the zoo at night.”

She said it’s surprising Fitz got out. “He would have had to go through some pretty heavy lifting.”

If he had tried to break out of the zoo altogether, she said, he would have had to scale a high perimeter fence and overhang with barbed wire.

While security procedures are reviewed, Fitz and his brother Turner are to stay out of public view.

“The habitat remains safe and suitable. Our review now is focused on understanding exactly how the incident occurred so that we can implement targeted improvements,” Baird said.

Fitz and Turner were orphaned in the wild last fall near Diamond Valley, south of Calgary. Their mother was killed in what the zoo described as a human-wildlife encounter. Considered too young to survive on their own, they were brought to the zoo and introduced to the public in May.

The zoo has previously investigated other problems, including the deaths of some animals.

In 2024, a mandrill died after undergoing emergency surgery. Also that year, a polar bear drowned, when its trachea was crushed by another bear during rough play.

A few months later, a young lowland gorilla also died, when a worker closed a wrong door and hit the animal’s head.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 17, 2026.