By Bill Raack, KWMU
St. Louis – A zookeeper was attacked by a bear at the St. Louis Zoo Thursday. The incident was apparently prompted by the zookeeper's mistake.
Zoo officials say the six-year-old Malayan Sun Bear was simply defending its territory when assistant zookeeper Doug Weiss entered its indoor pen.
Weiss thought the bear had left the pen for an outdoor enclosure. He suffered minor bites and lacerations before he managed to escape from the pen.
Zoo director Bill Boever the attack was not the result of poor policies or procedures.
"We will again review that but I don't anticipate that there'll be any changes," Boever said. "It was a human error here and certainly there won't be any changes or anything to the bear. The bear was just acting normal."
Boever says it is fortunate the incident involved a sun bear, which, at 150 pounds, is the world's smallest type of bear.