Zebras briefly escape in Franklin Park Zoo

“The foal’s first day in an exhibit is always a little tense,” said John Linehan, president and chief executive officer of Zoo New England, which oversees the Franklin Zoo.

But the Great Escape, which resulted in no injuries, turned out to create some excitement for the park.

“When I heard the zebras got out, I got excited and want to see them even more now,” said 11-year-old Merrimac Moran, of Cambridge, who visited the park with her father , Matt, today.

Linehan said the 100-pound foal, who has not been named yet, somehow broke through the cable and wire fencing at the exhibit – where her mother, Evita, 16, and another zebra had been staying. Evita then followed the foal, apparently to protect her, said Linehan.

The foal returned on her own and was able to make it back into the exhibit about 40 minutes after the escape, which occurred at about 10:45 a.m. But the mother zebra did not return to the exhibit, and continued to gambol about the zoo. Officials had to use a tranquilizer to contain her. She was placed in a trailer for a while before being brought back to the zebra barn.

About 1,000 people were evacuated during the incident. The zebras were also not harmed.

Linehan could not say today how the foal broke through the fence. He said the fence was tested before the exhibit opened, part of a daily routine, and that it appeared to be working. He said the incident remains under investigation, but that it does not appear to be human error.

This isn’t the first escape at the zoo. In 2003, a 300-pound gorilla named Little Joe escaped from his enclosure on two occasions, and on one of them he attacked a 2-year-old girl and an off-duty zoo employee, leading authorities on a massive chase through darkened woods and along a nearby street until his capture two hours later.

The incident triggered major security upgrades at the zoo.Officials said they have kept zebras and their offspring without incident since 1999.

Linehan could not say today when the exhibit for the Grevy zebras will reopen. The zoo was closed for several hours, frustrating visitors who came from throughout the area. They were eventually allowed back in, at half the day’s regular admission fee. The zoo also stayed open an hour later.