Zebra captured after three hours on the run in Seoul

A young zebra walked, trotted and galloped for hours through the busy streets of Seoul before emergency workers tranquillised the animal and brought it back to a zoo.

She said the zoo was investigating how the zebra managed to escape. She did not immediately confirm media reports that the animal partly destroyed the wooden fencing surrounding its pen before getting out at about 2.50pm.

Social media was awash with smartphone videos of the zebra trotting alongside queues of cars that were waiting at traffic lights at junctions, and galloping through a street surrounded by commercial buildings as pedestrians stopped and gasped.

Police and emergency workers managed to corner the zebra after it entered a narrow alleyway between houses and shot it with tranquillisers, ending its three hours of freedom.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or property damage caused by the zebra running loose.