ERP 38 Dangerous Animal Escape Plan
How to provide an initial response to a dangerous animal escape from a zoo, or other location.
The response required will be dependent on factors such as the exact location, circumstances, type of animal and the threat it poses.
In partnership with the zoos and other responder organisations, the intent of this ERP is:
- to reassure and protect the safety of the public and zoo staff in the event of the escape of a dangerous animal
- to provide the appropriate police response to assist the zoo staff in the re-capture/humane destruction of a dangerous animal in the event of an escape
Scenarios and causes of escape
Possible scenarios for escaped dangerous animals are:
- the animal has escaped from its habitat but is confined within the site perimeter fence – this is a risk to the public when the site is open to visitors, less so once the parks have closed
- the animal has managed to egress out into the wider community – the risk with this scenario is somewhat more complicated based on:
-
- time – daylight more people at risk, darkness more difficult to see the animal
- location – rural sites have less neighbours to give eyewitness sightings, whereas an urban setting will put local communities into lockdown but given greater eyewitness accounts/sightings/locations etc
Causes of escape
The direct cause as to how and why an animal may escape or be released from its habitat are likely to be one of the following:
- fire within the animals housing area (most likely cause), whereby the staff may have to release the animal purposely in a controlled manner for its own safety
- severe weather could cause a breach into the habitat giving smaller animals with climbing capabilities to egress using the vegetation etc. or heavier vegetation such as branches/trees falling on and breaking the perimeter fencing to the larger animal habitats
- human intervention, either staff error or activists/protestors intentionally releasing the animal (this scenario is less likely due to the “double gate” security systems in place)
Method and administration
The Force Incident manager (FIM) will assume the role of Tactical Firearms Commander (TFC) until relieved by the Silver Cadre TFC and act in accordance with the order. The FIM should complete the steps documented in the action card, linked on this page.
Unarmed officers should be deployed to appropriate locations to create an outer cordon and keep the public away from the location. Due to the dangers presented, officers should be deployed in vehicles. It may be necessary to deploy vehicles with a 4×4 capability to certain locations.
Patrol and Neighbourhood should be deployed under the command of the Local Policing Inspector with responsibility for command of unarmed resources.
The Duty Superintendent should assume command of the non-firearms element of the operation as soon as possible.
If the operation becomes protracted then consideration will need to be given to staff welfare, particularly arrangements will need to be made for food and drink to be supplied to staff on cordons. Additional equipment such as lighting may also be required.
Animal species and response
The following images document the type of primary weapon to use, back up weapon and animal target:
- Dogs, cattle, horses and donkeys (JPEG)
- Apes and monkeys (JPEG)
- Big cats and bears (JPEG)
- Rhino (JPEG)
- Elephants (JPEG)
- Pigs and wild boars (JPEG)
Zoos in our force area
There are two organisations in the force area that run zoos that fall under the definition by the British and Irish Association of Zoos and Aquariums (BIAZA), that have Category 1 Dangerous Animals, as defined in Section 7 of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976: Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm and Bristol Zoo Project.
Contact details, firearms and site maps for each zoo can be found below.
Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm
Address: Noah’s Ark Zoo Farm, Clevedon Road, Wraxall. BS48 1PG
Main switchboard: 01275 852606
W3W: person.universally.sticks
OS Grid: ST 485 731
Site map
The site covers an area of approximately 310 acres which is bordered on three sides by open farmland and woodland. The farm houses a large collection of animals, included in these are Bengal Tigers, African Lions, African Elephants, White Rhinos, Zebras, Bison and Andean Bears which are all housed in specially built enclosures.
Communication and contacts
Noah’s Ark has a Motorola system for communications between staff.
| Contact | Primary contact details | Secondary | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chris Wilkinson | 01275 866903/ Chris.Wilkinson@noahsarkzoofarm.co.uk |
07773 668990 | Curator/police contact/authorised with firearms |
| Jon Jutsom | 07771 567704 | Site manager/authorised with firearms | |
| Mike Bradley | 07590 010895 | Head Groundsman |
Firearms
There are currently six licenced persons able to use the site firearms who work on site, where their current capability is listed as:
.375* – CZ – Rifle
3006 – Mauser – Rifle
.243 – Mauser – Rifle
.22 – CZ – Rifle
12 Bore – Stevens – Shotgun
12 Bore – Revo – Shotgun
Dart – able to use 11 or 13mm barrel – Dan-Eject – Rifle
*375 rifle is used for Elephants/Rhinos.
Expanding, soft-point ammunition is used with rifles. Shotguns can use slug ammunition and dart guns are used regularly by staff.
Weaponry and darts are stored on site, but a vet must attend to provide the right drug/dose.
Bristol Zoo Project (formerly Wild Place)
Address: Bristol Zoo Project, Blackhorse Hill, Bristol, BS10 7TP (Junction 17 M5 for Cribbs Causeway)
Main switchboard: 0117 4285300
W3W: eagles.ends.since
OS grid: ST 576 814
Site map
The site is large and in a rural area which has enclosures for animals such as Cheetahs, Bears and Wolves and Gorillas. Bristol Zoo Gardens, Clifton has now closed.
Communication and contacts
Firearms
They currently have a team of 10 licensed to use firearms with at least one on duty when the park is open. Their current capability is listed as:
0.375 – Holland & Holland – Rifle
0.308 – Weatherby – Rifle
5+1 – SXP Winchester – Shotgun
12 bore – Remington – Shotgun
0.308 – Tikka – Rifle
0.375 – BRNO – Rifle
5+1 – SXP Winchester – Shotgun
One dart gun is held with a three-person vet team at the zoo who have access to the dart gun only.
Zoo staff
Staff at each zoo site are trained in animal welfare, management and an emergency occurring within the site involving one of their animals. This training includes the use of tranquiliser darts and animal destruction. There are weapons stored on premises. The staff are licensed and undergo regular training.
Animal escape outside of zoo premise
Zoo staff are not licensed to use firearms outside of zoo premises. In the event of an animal escape, if there is an immediate requirement to preserve life or prevent injury, zoo staff may consider the use of such force as is reasonable and necessary to deal with the animal without police being immediately on scene.
Depending on the type of animal, firearm officers may not have a firearm that is capable of dealing with the animal concerned. In this case, co-operation will be required with the zoo staff to safely deal with the animal.
Risk assessment
| Category | Risk | Mitigation | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resources | Authorised Firearms Officer (AFO)/Counter Terrorist Specialist Firearms Officers (CTSFO) may be deployed elsewhere, may become major incident | Mutual aid | Safety for unarmed officers and public |
| Finance | Costs for mutual aid | Reclaim | No financial implications for ASP |
| Animals | Injury/death from dangerous animal | Safe destruction of animal | Safety for officers and public |
Communication
Liaise with Duty Airwave Tac-Advisor or on call from Ops Planning to consider creating a separate Talk Group for the incident. For a multi-agency response use either PAVON ES1, ES2 or ES3 for joint communications.
For specific zoo contact details, refer to the zoos in our force area section.