This is how a zoo prepares for an animal escape — complete with a woman in a zebra suit

A woman dressed like a zebra during a drill at Ueno Zoo.
(Image credit: YouTube.com/AFP)

In the unlikely event of a zebra escape during an earthquake, the staff at Tokyo's Ueno Zoo will know exactly what to do. The zoo held a drill on what should happen in case of this super specific emergency, and it involved breeder Yumi Tamura donning a zebra suit and running around as if she really wanted to escape. "Much like the zebra, which is an animal that tends to panic easily, I found myself panicking too when I stepped out in front of everyone, but I felt it would be useful for me when I'm on the other side of the fence," she said. The zoo's director said the point of the drill is to improve cooperation among staff members and remind them of the tools they have if disaster strikes. Catherine Garcia

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.