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Man in leopard suit portrays escaped animal at Tokyo zoo

A Japanese zookeeper dressed up in a snow leopard costume to simulate an animal escape, going so far as “injuring” a fellow employee before being taken down by a fake tranquilizer gun
Man in leopard costume helps Tokyo zoo simulate animal escape 01:26

What may look like a costumed character gone crazy, is actually part of an escaped animal drill at Tokyo's Tama Zoological Park. The exercise is supposed to train zookeepers how to handle an animal in case one escapes from its enclosure.

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Man in leopard costume simulates an escaped zoo animal for security drill.

With a man dressed in a leopard costume, the procedure includes everything from setting up a trap to tranquilizing the escaped animal.

Director of Tama Zoological Park, Yuta Fukuda, said, "We focused on making this drill as realistic as possible," said Yuta Fukuda, director of Tama Zoological Park. "One of our staff being knocked down, injured and being knocked unconscious and going into cardiac arrest is part of that."

Watch the video above to see the zoo's emergency drill.

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