Panda escapes from enclosure at Copenhagen Zoo

Seven-year-old male scaled metal pole to make a break for exit

Xing Er, pictured in 2019, wandered around Copenhagen Zoo before sedated and returned to its enclosure (AP)

One of Copenhagen Zoo's giant pandas escaped from its enclosure early on Monday and roamed the park before staff were able to sedate it and bring it back.

Xing Er, a seven-year-old male who arrived at the zoo last year, was seen on surveillance video breaking out of the newly built, 160 million-kroner (£19m) Panda House that also houses female panda Mao Sun.

Zoo spokesperson Bengt Holst said staff could see on the video how “the male panda crawls up a metal pole, which is studded with three rows of electrical wires ... and then crawls out into the garden”.

He said the park now was looking at making changes to security around the enclosure “to ensure that it does not happen again”.

Zoo staff reacted “quickly and efficiently”, the animal was corned and sedated with a dart without being harmed, he said. Monday's incident happened before the park opened to the public.

“It doesn't change the fact that we want to avoid that kind of situation in the future,” Mr Holst said.

The enclosure to house the pandas from China's southwestern city of Chengdu, was inaugurated by Queen Margrethe and other dignitaries in April 2019.

Beijing lends out pandas as a sign of goodwill. Any cubs born during the 15-year loan period are considered China's property.

Associated Press