Have You Seen This? Japan zoo escape drill goes viral

THE ZOO — It’s not just the Boy Scouts that believe in being prepared.

Preparation is the hallmark of any resource-rich organization to avoid waste and injury. And preparation becomes even more complex once you add more living beings to the situation — humans and animals alike.

If you find yourself running a zoo-type situation, a huge part of your job is to prepare for any and every scenario you think of because both humans and animals are unpredictable. Animal-escape scenarios are likely high on the list of zookeeper planning. Even though these scenarios are not everyday occurrences, they happen. Sometimes everything turns out well, and sometimes it ends in tragedy.

That’s why it’s important for animal-related organizations to make plans and review and practice them regularly. And that’s just what the Tobe Zoo in Japan was doing recently when the internet stood up and took notice. While training for these situations should be taken seriously, that’s not quite how the internet viewed the zoo’s efforts.

In the video, you’ll see people dressed in mascot-like animal costumes, wandering around the zoo. Not such a bad idea in general. But what starts making the video into the type of entertainment the internet loves is how it all turns into a childlike pantomime.

“Animals” are “charging” workers with plodding steps, and workers are dramatically falling to fake injuries as their friends “rush” to “treat” and “rescue” them. It looks a bit silly by itself, but then British tabloid The Guardian decided a supercut of the animal rescue day needed its own dramatic soundtrack. Of course the internet went wild. (Pun intended. You’re welcome.)

The Tobe Zoo definitely perfected something in this video, but it’s unclear if that “something” is what they originally intended.

(If you’re interested in a legitimate news source about this escape scenario, check out this “zebra” escape video from the Associated Press.)

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