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Columbus Zoo put on lockdown after black bear briefly escapes

This June 2016 photo provided by the Columbus Zoo shows a black bear cub named Joan in the Columbus Zoo in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Zoo via AP

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Zoo officials in Ohio say a 7-month-old black bear cub escaped its enclosure for about 15 minutes before being corralled and sedated.

A spokeswoman says the Columbus Zoo was put on lockdown Saturday morning for a few minutes until workers could contain the bear named Joan.

READ MORE: ‘Captivity is degrading’: Buenos Aires Zoo, Georgia Aquarium take steps to end animal captivity

She says two rescue cubs were being moved into a new habitat when the one named after rocker Joan Jett somehow got out.

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The cub was within an area accessible to the public, but spokeswoman Patty Peters says she didn’t know whether it came close to visitors.

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READ MORE: Zoo closes as staff try to wrangle Dizzy, an escaped 12-pound monkey

Workers got the cub into a building and sedated her because she was scared.

Just a month ago, a response team at the Cincinnati Zoo shot and killed a gorilla after a boy got inside its enclosure.

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