800-pound "goat-antelope" rams its way out of Rhode Island zoo enclosure

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- An 800-pound zoo animal described as a "goat-antelope" rammed its way out of its enclosure Tuesday and ran around a Rhode Island zoo for an hour before being captured and sedated. One animal keeper and one veterinary intern were treated on the scene for minor injuries. 

"Both of them are pretty bruised, from what I understand, and they are OK. Aches and pains, but they're OK," said zoo spokeswoman Diane Nahabedian, CBS affiliate WPRI-TV of Providence, Rhode Island, reported. 

The massive horned animal, known as a takin, escaped just after 9 a.m. at the Roger Williams Park Zoo in Providence and was captured by trained zoo staff about an hour later, before the zoo opened for visitors.

The incident unfolded when a veterinary team approached the animal, named Har-Lee, for a routine hoof procedure. The animal then charged the heavy reinforced doors multiple times, finally breaking through onto zoo grounds.

"This one got aggressive and decided to leave," Nahabedian said. Har-Lee was sedated and taken back to an enclosure.

If the zoo was open at the time, visitors would've been ushered by security into buildings, Nahabedian said. On a typical Tuesday when school groups are visiting, the zoo could have a couple thousand visitors, she added.

Har-Lee lives alone in his enclosure in the middle of the zoo and has never escaped before, said Nahabedian. He's fine but is being monitored, Nahabedian said, and the enclosure is being evaluated to ensure he can't escape and that he's safe.

Har-Lee arrived at the zoo in 2012. Takins are native to the eastern Himalayas.