Calgary Zoo officials say a one-year-old grizzly bear named 'Fitz' made a brief escape from his compound on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. Fitz, shown in this handout from the Calgary Zoo/Wilder Institute, was found on the zoo grounds, immobilized and returned to his home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo/Cyrielle Fuchs (Mandatory Credit)
Calgary Zoo officials say a one-year-old grizzly bear named 'Fitz' made a brief escape from his compound on Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026. Fitz, shown in this handout from the Calgary Zoo/Wilder Institute, was found on the zoo grounds, immobilized and returned to his home. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Wilder Institute/Calgary Zoo/Cyrielle Fuchs (Mandatory Credit)
SDVCALGARY - Officials at the Wilder Institute’s Calgary Zoo are trying to figure out how a grizzly bear managed to escape his habitat and lumber around the grounds.
They say one-year-old Fitz escaped about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, before the zoo opened to the public for the day.
He was quickly tracked down, immobilized and returned to his space. There were no injuries.
"Our teams are reviewing the circumstances of the incident as part of our established post-incident procedures," the zoo said in a statement.
The exhibit was temporarily closed while staff assessed the area.Â
Police said officers were called to provide support, but they remained outside the zoo and were not needed.
Fitz and his brother Turner were orphaned in the wild last fall near Diamond Valley, south of Calgary. Their mother was killed in what the zoo described as a human-wildlife encounter.
Considered too young to survive on their own, they were brought to the zoo and introduced to the public in May.
The zoo has previously investigated other problems, including the deaths of some animals.
In 2024, a mandrill died after undergoing emergency surgery. Also that year, a polar bear drowned, when its trachea was crushed by another bear during rough play.
A few months later, a young lowland gorilla also died, when a worker closed a wrong door and hit the animal's head.
This report by ºÃÉ«tvwas first published Aug. 17, 2026.
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