'Lonely' wild black bear breaks into California zoo to make friends with captive bears living in its enclosure
By Alyssa Guzman
Daily Mail
Oct 21, 2025
The bear got into the park by climbing a tree. The animal had smelled his fellow bears inside the zoo, prompting him to come inside, the zoo's director speculated
A lonely black bear broke into a Nothern California zoo to make new friends before being safely escorted back into the wild.
The curious visitor was caught peering into the bear enclosure inside the Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka on Friday around 9:30am, before the zoo opened.
A staff member doing a routine inspection stumbled upon the guest near the zoo's Redwood Sky Wal
'The wild bear did not appear aggressive and was observed interacting with Tule, Ishŭng, and Kunabulilh through their habitat fencing,' the zoo said in a statement, referring to its three black bears.
'When I first heard about it, I thought: "Poor thing, it's lonely,"' Laura Montagna, the Eureka Police Department's public information officer, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
An emergency procedure was immediately implemented, and the police and California Department of Fish and Wildlife were contacted to create a 'calm and safe resolution.'
'At no point did the wild bear enter any animal habitats and, after a brief exploration of the enrichment items around the night house, the bear was safely coaxed back into the woods through a service gate,' the zoo said.
The police department made sure to keep humans away from the woods so the animal 'wouldn't get scared' while Fish and Wildlife escorted him out, Montagna told The Los Angeles Times.
A black bear was caught peeking into the Sequoia Park Zoo's bear enclosure on Friday before the establishment opened its doors
The curious visitor was spotted near the Redwood Sky Walk by a staff member doing a routine inspection. The zoo said he was a 'very polite' visitor
The bear got into the park by climbing a tree but was unable to get out, Zoo Director Jim Campbell-Spickler told the Chronicle.
Campbell-Spickler estimated that the bear war around one-and-a-half years old and about 150 pounds.
'He was just a curious guy,' he told the Chronicle.
The bear had smelled his fellow bears inside the zoo, prompting him to come inside, the director speculated.
'It was a young bear finding its way in the world,' he added.
The perimeter fencing separating the 60-acre Sequoia Park from the enclosed animal kingdom was not disturbed or damaged.
The animal-friendly establishment said their visitor was 'very polite' and stayed on the boardwalk path during his brief stay.
'[He] kept two feet on the ground and didn’t try to climb over the railings!' the zoo said.
The zoo's bear and coyote habitat opened in the summer of 2023 (pictured: one of the zoo's bears inside the enclosure)
The Daily Mail has reached out to the Sequoia Park Zoo for comment.
The zoo's bear and coyote habitat opened in the summer of 2023, welcoming in Tule and Ishŭng.
In June 2025, Kunabulilh, whose nickname is Nabu, quietly joined the park's bear exhibit after being placed there by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Tule was found alone as a bear club in the Tule River National Reservation in the spring of 2022. He weighed only 3.7 pounds and had a variety of health concerns. After specialists were unable to find his mother, he was rehabilitated and later joined the Sequoia Zoo.
Ishŭng was also placed at the zoo by the Department of Fish and Wildlife. Kunabulilh joined after being found in critical condition as a yearling cub.
Bears heavily populate California, with an estimated 49,000 to 71,000 of them living in the Golden State.
Around 50 percent of them live near the North Coast and Cascade regions, while another 40 percent live in the Sierra Nevada. The rest live near the Central Coast and Southern Coasts.
Experts advise those who come across bears to remain calm, identify yourself by talking calmly, not to run, and make yourself as big as possible.
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