Deer breaks into Detroit Zoo.jpg

DNR photo of the release of a deer that entered the Detroit Zoo Wednesday, May 18, 2016.

ROYAL OAK -- A wild white-tailed deer made its way through a traffic-heavy section of Royal Oak on Wednesday, getting beyond the walls and ticket booths near Woodward Avenue and 10 Mile Road and eventually to the former Dinosauria exhibit at the Detroit Zoo.

There it was wrangled, shot with a tranquilizer dart and later returned to the wild by Department of Natural Resources employees Thursday, zoo spokeswoman Patricia Janeway said.

"For the safety of our guests and the deer, all gates were closed and guests were not allowed to enter or exit the zoo," Janeway said. "Life sciences, guest relations and park safety personnel collaborated to resolve the situation.

"Guests in the zoo were kept away from the areas where the deer went. He ended up in the area formerly occupied by Dinosauria, where he was eventually captured."

Janeway said the deer was treated by a veterinarian for symptoms of hyperthermia but was "alert, calm and doing well" by Thursday morning.

He's been released in a nearby state park.

While that section of Metro Detroit doesn't seem a likely habitat for deer, sightings there are not unusual.

An orphaned fawn -- it's mother struck and killed by a car -- lived in a nearby neighborhood just south of the zoo for months before being removed to a sanctuary in 2014.