Hippo escapes zoo through open gate, returns two minutes later

Nov. 3 (UPI) -- A young hippo escaped from an Israeli zoo by walking out through an open gate, but returned on her own after experiencing the outside world for only two minutes.

Security cameras were rolling at the Ramat Gan Safari in central Israel when the female hippopotamus walked out of the facility through an open gate about 6 p.m. Wednesday.

The zoo said the gate is commonly left open during the day for vehicles to pass through, but the hippo managed to use the exit after its enclosure was apparently left open.

The video shows the hippo walk out through the gate and return on its own two minutes later.

Zoo workers then guided the animal back to its enclosure.

"The safari's management is taking this incident very seriously," a spokesperson told Arutz Sheva. "This morning we began a thorough investigation of the incident. We will soon come to conclusions and act accordingly."