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Wild bear ‘looking for a friend’ breaks into California zoo, meets 3 captive bears
The century-old Sequoia Park Zoo in Eureka said that a wild, young American black bear broke into the facility and paid a visit to three captive bears of the same species.
An employee happened upon the surprise visitor during a daily inspection on Friday morning before the zoo opened. The wild bear explored some toys and interacted with the zoo’s bears through their habitat fencing – and appeared friendly, zoo officials said.
“He was really, really interested in our three bears, and he introduced himself to all of them through the fence,” Jim Campbell-Spickler, the zoo’s director, told SFGATE. “The interaction between them was really sweet, calm and curious. We think he was just looking for a friend, though maybe that’s anthropomorphizing, of course.”
The zoo’s three resident bears are named Tule, Ishung and Kunabulilh.
Images show a wild black bear inside the perimeter gate of Eureka’s Sequoia Park Zoo on Friday morning, Oct. 17, 2025. Once inside the zoo, the wild black bear interacted with its captive counterparts through a fence. (Courtesy of Sequoia Park Zoo)
After the break-in, officers from the Eureka Police Department and a warden from California Department of Fish and Wildlife reported to the zoo to assist the staff. They opened the perimeter gate, and after about 20 minutes with some encouragement, the wild bear – who might only be a year and a half and has an unknown sex – exited the zoo into the adjacent 67-acre Sequoia Park.
“Overall, he was a very polite visitor,” Christine Noel, the zoo’s education curator who saw the bear first, said in a statement.
“It was a good outcome for everyone involved, especially the bear,” Peter Tira, spokesperson for California Department of Fish and Wildlife, told SFGATE.
How exactly the bear entered the zoo remains a mystery, though it seems clear that it came from Sequoia Park. Bears and other wild creatures, like deer and otters, are known to frequent that park. While the zoo has had plenty of other nonhuman visitors, including skunks, raccoons and foxes, this is the first time a bear has appeared.
FILE: “He was really, really interested in our three bears, and he introduced himself to all of them through the fence,” Jim Campbell-Spickler, the zoo’s director, told SFGATE. Pictured is an unrelated black bear. (Getty Images)
“We do not know how the bear got in,” Campbell-Spickler said. “The main perimeter fence was not breached in any way. Likely, he was just very intent on coming in and visiting our bears, so he could have climbed up into a tree and come over.”
The staff for the zoo, home to over 150 animals, said they were surprised at the widespread public interest in the bear encounter.
“It really was just another day at the zoo in a lot of ways,” Campbell-Spickler said.
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This article originally published at Wild bear ‘looking for a friend’ breaks into California zoo, meets 3 captive bears.