Escape of bison forced Tayto Park visitors to shelter in gift shop

A break out by three bison from their enclosure forced visitors in Tayto Park to shelter in a gift shop in an incident that occurred in March.

The alarm was raised by the retail manager after a customer reported seeing bison next to an amusement ride at the park in Meath. The zookeeping team then initiated the escaped animal procedure immediately.

According to Independent.ie: "All visitors were removed from that area and brought into the retail shop, which was the nearest secure building to the animals," a staff member wrote in an email to the government department responsible for zoo licensing.

Customers were confined to the gift shop until the bison herd manager arrived and returned the animals to their paddock with the assistance of zookeepers.

It was reported that the section of fence that the bison had broken through was later repaired.

“The incident was resolved quickly and efficiently by staff following the emergency drills we have in place,” the staff member reported in the email to an official in the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

The American bison and the European bison are the largest surviving terrestrial animals in North America and Europe