'Professional zebra impersonator' is an interesting thing to add to your CV at least.
Tokyo's Ueno Zoo holds an annual zebra escape drill in preparation for any escapes that may occur during earthquakes and, because they obviously can't simulate earthquakes or use live zebras for it, they do so by dressing up one of the zoo employees and getting them to run riot in the zoo and attempt to escape.
"The zebra is an animal that easily panics," said 27-year-old Yumi Tamura, the zebra impersonator that usually cares for gorillas and monkeys. "I myself felt panicky when acting it out," she told AFP.
The drill is quite a spectacle for zoo visitors, who eventually witnessed the 'zebra' being taken down with a fake stun gun and loaded into a pickup truck.
"Every year, a keeper plays the role of an escaping animal," said an Ueno zoo spokesman. "They know how the animals would act in the event of disaster and their escape."
Via Reuters
