The Houston Zoo had its hands full Wednesday as its newest edition, a two-week-old elephant calf named Joy, wriggled and scooted her way to temporary freedom.
A zoo visitor captured the moment on cellphone video as Joy lay on the ground, wiggling her way under the bottom cable of the enclosure. Once she was under, she stood up and ran down the line between the primary and secondary enclosure fences.
The video, shared with KPRC-TV in Houston, showed zoo patrons hurrying along the outer perimeter of the enclosure, phone cameras at the ready, as Joy enjoyed her jaunt. Zoo workers could be heard calling for handlers and asking the crowd to step back as Joy's mother paced on the other side of the fence and voiced anxiety over the situation.
A zoo spokeswoman told KPRC that Joy never got past the secondary fence. She was not injured during her brief adventure.
Joy was born July 12 to Shanti, a 26-year-old Asian elephant, after a two-year pregnancy. The calf, who weighed 305 pounds at birth, began nursing within three hours and has since been doing well and meeting milestones, zoo officials reported on Facebook.
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