A zebra that escaped its enclosure, which roamed central Seoul for hours and became an internet star, has returned safely to the zoo, officials told AFP on Friday.
The zebra Sero is back in its enclosure in “stable and healthy condition,” a Seoul Children’s Grand Park official said, after the animal spent three hours trotting down streets and dodging cars on Thursday before finally being escorted by park rangers been cornered.
Three-year-old Sero was arrested and drugged after entering a narrow alleyway through a security gate. Photos posted to social media show him being carried to the zoo asleep.
Sero was a bit like a “mommy boy” and had tantrums before, according to the zoo
After the deaths of his parents – his mother in 2020 and father two years later – he began to behave erratically, according to a video posted to the zoo’s YouTube channel in January.
“He didn’t want to go back into his enclosure and got into a fight with a kangaroo,” the video reads.
Caregivers have started giving him special snacks and fruit to try to keep him from “wandering,” she adds, but to no avail.
His brief adventure on the congested streets of Seoul propelled Sero to internet stardom, spawning thousands of Korean-language social media videos and memes.
A video shows Sero walking calmly through a maze of parked cars while a witness to the scene exclaims, “Oh, he looks good!”
Other netizens noted that his escape highlighted the plight of zoo animals.
“I cried after my mom said it might be the first time he’s run in a long time,” one person wrote on Twitter.