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This is just beautiful, man: Jailbreak Ape: Escaped "Orangutan" Terrifies Children in Tokyo Zoo Drill. Spiegel Online is exceedingly charitable in its description of the event: "A zoo in western Tokyo held an animal escape drill Tuesday. A zoo worker in an animal costume played the part of a runaway orangutan -- and was practically indistinguishable from the real thing."

Japan's zoos tend to be dreary, cramped affairs. Just a series of concrete boxes to imprison animals that have no business sweltering in the country's summer heat or freezing during its dry winters. Some of them are showing a bit more creativity and concern in the way they display their animals, though; the Asahiyama Zoo in Hokkaido, one of the nation's most popular despite its great distance from any major urban center, is an excellent example of a top-flight zoo that provides spacious habitats and interesting ways for people to poke their heads into them. (Stick your head up through a plexiglass bubble and see what it feels like to be a surfacing seal with a polar bear staring down at you!)

Thanks to my sister for sending this Spiegel link to me, and for reminding me that I had seen a similar story about a year ago. Pic and descriptive blurb from the Yahoo photo page on that one:

"A zoo worker checks whether the mock gorilla is conscious after pretending to have shot it with a tranquiliser gun during a drill in Tokyo February 21, 2006 to prepare the Ueno zoo to deal with a situation in which a ferocious animal escapes from its enclosure. About 150 people including zoo employees, fire department and police officials took part in the annual drill."

Animal welfare and goofy fur suits, together at last.