A zookeeper was rushed to the hospital after being attacked by a bear at the zoo Wednesday afternoon in Jacksonville.
NBC affiliate WTLV-TV reports the incident took place at the Jacksonville Zoo and Gardens just after 5 p.m. when the bear managed to "breach its exhibit," according to zoo officials.
The bear, identified as a 5-year-old American black bear, came over to the non-customer-facing exhibit side and had the encounter with the employee.
Staff were forced to shoot the bear, who later died, according to officials.
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“Our highest priority is always the safety of human lives, therefore, the bear was shot and killed," the zoo said in a statement. “We will be conducting an ongoing investigation over the coming days and weeks. We do not take this lightly. It is profoundly painful when we have a loss of an animal, especially under circumstances such as this."
The zookeeper, who was not identified, was taken to the hospital and is expected to be okay.
"The zoo has been around for over 106 years, and our mission is to connect people with wildlife and wild places," a spokesperson said. "We love wildlife, and our staff has a huge passion for animals as well, our animal care team has cared for these animals for years. So this is something that is very disheartening to us, to have to face a situation like this."
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An investigation continues into how the incident took place.
