Japanese zoo stages emergency drill using person in zebra costume

Zoo officials dressed a zookeeper in a giant zebra costume and staged a situation in which the animal was on the loose. During the test, the "zebra" escaped during a hypothetical earthquake, injured a zoo worker and caused a zoo attendant to have a heart attack.

Each year the zoo has different zookeepers act as different animals to conduct the test. It has previously simulated gorilla, rhino and orangutan emergencies. Workers said their jobs enable them to have a better understanding of each animal's behavior, which is key in realistically portraying the scenarios.

"The zebra is an animal that easily panics," Yumi Tamura, the keeper who played the zebra, told The Guardian. "I myself felt panicky when acting it out."

At the end of the staged emergency, the fake zebra was shot with a fake stun gun and moved to a pickup truck to be taken back to safety.