Visitors at Washington's largest zoo had to evacuate on Friday after a bomb threat, turning what had started as an ordinary summer day at the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle into a hurried walk toward the exits. The scare briefly emptied one of the city's most popular family destinations before an all clear was given.
According to the zoo, someone called in the threat just after eleven in the morning. Staff said they immediately evacuated everyone out of the grounds over safety concerns, moving quickly to get people away from the site while the situation was still unclear.
The evacuation included thirty-five visitors and two hundred camp kids who were at the zoo at the time. Clearing out a large group of children along with the general public added to the urgency, with organizers and staff working to usher everyone toward the gates in an orderly way.
One man who was there with family and friends described the moment the loudspeaker asked everyone to leave. He recalled being told to exit and leave calmly, with no further information offered about what was happening or why the grounds were suddenly being cleared.
He said that even the staff they met on the way out did not seem to know what was going on. Most people ended up making jokes about it, guessing that maybe a tiger, a lion or some other scary animal had gotten loose, and he said nobody was really scared as they filed out.
Seattle police investigated the threat and found there was no bomb. Once the search was complete and the area was declared safe, zoo visitors were able to return inside at two in the afternoon, allowing the day at the Woodland Park Zoo to resume after the brief but tense interruption.