It took more than 150 staff members, as well as local police and firefighters to evacuate Ueno Zoo in Tokyo, after a gigantic, extremely fake gorilla escaped.
The zoo recently held an emergency drill in which a person in an adorable gorilla costume tried to escape following a fake earthquake, The Telegraph reports. Onlookers watched as the emergency plan unfolded: The "gorilla" was held at bay with nets, tranquilized, caught, and thrown into the back of a van. Zoo-goers were evacuated.
Toshimitsu Doi, the zoo's director, said being prepared was an absolute necessity.
"When you're doing everyday work as part of a routine, you forget what it's like when something out of the ordinary happens," he told The Telegraph. "It's important to take these opportunities to remember what needs to be done."
The zoo holds animal escape drills every two years. Each year, the escaped animal is different (a tiger and rhinoceros have been featured in the past), and for good reason. In 2010, a Japanese macaque escaped and hid inside a restaurant within the park.