Grizzly bear shatters glass barrier at Minnesota Zoo

APPLE VALLEY, Minn. — A grizzly bear exhibit at the Minnesota Zoo is temporarily closed after a bear picked up a basketball-sized rock and repeatedly pushed it against a glass barrier.

Animal Collection Manager Tony Fisher says the zoo had anchored everything down in Grizzly Coast exhibit and cleared it of objects the bears could carry, but one of the animals apparently dug the large rock out of the ground.

He says the bear broke only one of five layers of laminated safety glass, and that the public was never in danger.

"One layer broke, the bears did not escape. They were not trying to be aggressive, they were not trying to get out, they were just playing with a rock," Fisher said.

The grizzly bear exhibit is closed until the zoo can make repairs.