File picture of a bear at Nandankanan.

Bhubaneswar, April 28: The escape of a bear from its enclosure in Nandankanan zoo has left hundreds of visitors in a state of panic.

The female sloth bear managed to escape from enclosure No. 16(A) yesterday. The zoo authorities have not been able to trace the bear so far.

In a similar incident in January last year, when a lioness fled from its enclosure, the zoo authorities had to close the zoo to visitors for a day. But surprisingly, the zoo authorities have not closed the zoo today though the wild bear is believed to be roaming in nearby forests.

“The zoo authorities must capture the wild bear to ensure the safety of visitors. The moment I came to know about the bear’s escape, I felt panicky,” said Deepak Mohanty, a visitor from Cuttack.

Zoo officials have been silent on the issue. But sources in the zoo said a team constituted to trace the wild bear conducted search operations this morning, but failed to locate the animal. The zoo authorities had to discontinue search operations yesterday evening because darkness had fallen.

The zoo authorities yesterday had denied that the bear could have escaped from the zoo premises, saying that it had probably taken shelter in a tunnel. But the report of the animal missing was confirmed today. The bear, which was rescued from the wild around two years ago, did not come out of its cave for food on Saturday afternoon, raising apprehensions that it had escaped.

Sources in the zoo hinted at human fault behind the escape. “There are two gates in bear’s cave. One gate is closed when workers take food inside the cave, while the other is closed after that. The animal keeper might have left both gates opened which helped its escape,” said a source.

The incident has raised questions about the safety of visitors at one of the country’s premier zoos. “First, the lioness escaped last year and now, the bear has fled. These are bad indications that put a question mark over the safety of the thousands who throng the zoo,” said Smurti Ranjan Nayak, a visitor.

However, the zoo authorities said they were trying to trace the bear. “As far as the security of the visitors is concerned, the zoo is safe as the animal was not found inside the zoo area,” said deputy director of the zoo C.R. Mishra.