Rebecca Butts

The Cincinnati Enquirer

CINCINNATI — Cincinnati Zoo visitors were temporarily kept indoors Wednesday afternoon after two polar bears breached a containment area.

The two bears — Little One and Berit — escaped through an open pen door, according to zoo officials.

The zoo, which had previously reported that one polar bear breached the containment area, has a double-containment system in place that prevented the bears from entering spectator areas.

Necessary protocols were followed and no injuries to the bears, zookeepers or visitors resulted, said zoo director Thane Maynard in a news release.

"The bears entered an inappropriate area but did not leave the building and the public was never at risk,” Maynard said.

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Spokeswoman Michelle Curley said Berit, the zoo's female polar bear, breached a behind-the-scenes containment area at around 11:30 a.m. but was never actually loose in the zoo.

The zoo resumed normal operations around 1:30 p.m. The bears were resting in their den Wednesday afternoon and could be back on exhibit by Friday, according to a news release from the zoo.

Wednesday was Ethan Baugher's first time at the zoo with his family. He drove more than an hour from Columbus, Ind., to visit the park with his wife, mother-in-law, 8-year-old-niece, 4-year-old son, and 3-year-old nephew.

They were just up the hill from the polar bear exhibit when zoo officials told guests to get indoors. Baugher was initially curious and "a bit annoyed" that officials didn't immediately reveal why they were telling guests to stay indoors but said the incident did not significantly upset or scare his family.

"This kind of stuff happens," Baugher said. "They were maybe a little over-cautious, which is certainly better than not being cautious enough."

Visitors were told to either remain indoors or leave the park after the polar bear breach. Some, including Baugher, waited outside the gates to be allowed back inside. Zoo officials announced the park was reopened and the polar bears were contained around 1:40 p.m.

Gallery: Berit the polar bear

Brooke Ann Johnson, of Brookville, Ind., left the zoo after she and her family were kept inside a conference room. She came to the zoo with her sister and two nephews, ages 1 and 2.

Johnson said her family wasn't scared during the incident and that zoo staff handed out coloring books to the children.

"I believe [the workers] did a good job of handling it," Johnson said. "The workers were very calm when they heard about the escape."

Berit and her twin brother, Ulaq, came to Cincinnati in 2000 from the Denver Zoo, according to Enquirer archives. Their arrival was shortly after the Cincinnati Zoo unveiled its $2.75 million polar bear exhibit, featuring a 7-foot wide, 12-foot high glass front.

The glass viewing panels give visitors a "nose-to-nose" experience with the polar bears.

Ulaq died suddenly in October 2002.

This isn't the first time the Cincinnati Zoo has encountered a problem with its polar bears. In 1990, a zoo worker lost her arm after a male polar bear named Icee attacked her as she attempted to feed him. The worker, Laurie Stober, was awarded $3.5 million after she filed a lawsuit against the zoo.