Three bison escape enclosure at Irish theme park

Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Visitors to an Irish theme park and zoo were herded into a gift shop for their protection when three bison broke free of their enclosure.

Tayto Park officials said in an email to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, which is responsible for zoo licensing, that the alarm was raised when a visitor spotted a loose bison wandering next to an amusement ride at the Meath attraction and informed the zookeeping team.

The team ushered park guests into the gift shop while the bison herd manager was summoned to round up the three escaped animals.

The email said the bison were quickly rounded up and returned to their enclosure, which had a damaged section of fencing. The barrier was repaired.

Zoo officials said guests were only kept in the gift shop for about 10 minutes before the all-clear was sounded and park operations resumed as normal.