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Grizzly bear uses rock to shatter window at Minnesota Zoo

"One of the bears had a rock about the size of a basketball and managed to break one of the windows," said Tony Fisher, director of animal collections for the Minnesota Zoo.

By Ben Hooper
The window at the Minnesota Zoo's grizzly bear exhibit was shattered by a bear using a basketball-sized rock. KOAT-TV screenshot
The window at the Minnesota Zoo's grizzly bear exhibit was shattered by a bear using a basketball-sized rock. KOAT-TV screenshot

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APPLE VALLEY, Minn., July 8 (UPI) -- Officials at the Minnesota Zoo said a grizzly bear picked up a basketball-sized rock and shattered a layer of the glass barrier keeping him contained.

Witnesses said the bear, one of three in the Russia's Grizzly Coast exhibit Monday, picked up a rock from the bottom of the exhibit's pool and repeatedly slammed it against the glass until a layer of the barrier shattered.

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"One of the bears had a rock about the size of a basketball and managed to break one of the windows," Tony Fisher, director of animal collections for the Minnesota Zoo, told ABC News.

The three bears have temporarily been removed from the enclosure.

"At no time was there any danger of the bears getting out since there were still four layers of glass, but we're not going to trust it," Fisher said.

Witness Robin Ficker estimated the rock weighed about 50 pounds.

"The noise of the rock into the glass was so loud that it reverberated, and that is when people ran," Ficker told CNN. "He was using a rock as a tool ... He hit the window five times."

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Zoo spokeswoman Kelly Lessard downplayed the incident.

"The brown bear was exhibiting typical curious natural behavior, interacting with a found object just like it might in the wild," she said.

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