Antelope found wandering at Bronx zoo

[Admin Rose]

A professional photographer stumbled upon quite the photo op at the Bronx Zoo Sunday - a kudu escaped from his enclosure.

"I just turned the corner and there was a kudu," the astonished photographer, Andrew Lichtenstein, said. "It's a large animal."

Kudus are a species of African antelope. The beast, complete with fearsome spiraling horns, appeared ready for his closeup.

"It was right next to where people would be walking," said Lichtenstein, 45, of Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn. "It was clearly out of the enclosure but it was sticking to an area of shrubs and trees."

A pair of male kudus joined a herd of gazelles in the zoo's popular outdoor African Plains exhibit this summer. The dashing duo can often be spotted jousting.

But apparently one of them was restless in his new home and decided to hoof it.

After snapping his picture, Lichtenstein, who'd visited the zoo for a drama-free day away from the 9/11 remembrances, didn't know what to do with the kudu.

"I tried to called the zoo to let them know," he said, "but of course I got put on voice mail - press one, two, three."

He finally told someone working at a food stand, who called zoo officials.

A zoo worker then opened a gate to the exhibit, Lichtenstein said, and the kudu waltzed right back home.

The kooky kudu had tasted freedom for at least half an hour, Lichtenstein said