On Friday morning, Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo received an anonymous message about a bomb being planted. Shortly after a call came in at about 11 a.m., the administration closed the grounds and began evacuating. About 3,500 visitors and 200 children who were in a summer camp were led out of the zoo. Arriving police carefully searched all areas and found no explosive devices—by 2 p.m., the zoo had reopened to guests.
Zoo representatives noted that in recent weeks, many zoos and aquariums across the country have received similar threats—all of them turned out to be false, so-called “swatting” attacks (hoax calls intended to summon law enforcement). Despite the obvious lack of credibility, the administration treated the threat with full seriousness, putting the safety of staff, visitors, and animals first. The summer camp will continue as usual on Monday.
Based on: Woodland Park Zoo evacuated after bomb threat, reopens - The Seattle Times