Police have launched a criminal investigation after a clouded leopard escaped from the Dallas Zoo enclosure that authorities say was intentionally hacked up.
“The fence that he escaped from was intentionally cut down,” said Dallas police Sgt. Warren Mitchell said Friday.
Authorities do not believe the clouded leopard was stolen, and police and zoo staff were searching the area for the animal. They said that the leopard is not dangerous to humans.
The incident, described as «a serious situation», caused the zoo to close for the day.
«We have an ongoing situation at the zoo right now with a Code Blue, which is a non-hazardous animal that is out of the wild. One of our clouded leopards was not in the wild when the team arrived this morning and is missing. «. right now», the zoo tweeted Friday morning.
The leopard, named Nova, likely escaped through what zoo officials initially described as a tear in the mesh enclosure she shares with her sister, Luna.
Zoo officials said they don’t think Nova will venture out too far because she is very close to Luna, who is still in the habitat.
Nova probably hid in the top of a tree after escaping, said Harrison Edell, executive vice president of animal care and conservation at the Dallas Zoo.
Staff members are using binoculars to search for her. «We don’t think it’s likely that she’ll get off the ground and move,» Edell said.
Cats are nocturnal, so officials are preparing cameras to capture any movement at night.
Police initially sent a SWAT team to the zoo because they were unsure of the cat’s size, Mitchell said.
A Dallas police drone was flying over the zoo as part of the search, he said. «Hopefully it’s still here somewhere,» Mitchell said.
Dallas Zoo President and CEO Greg Hudson said if Nova is not found, the area of the zoo where she called home will remain closed tomorrow. The rest of the grounds would reopen, he said.
Nova was born in November 2019, along with Luna, at the Houston Zoo. On her first birthday, before the Leopards went to Dallas, the Houston institution described Luna as outgoing and Nova as reserved.
«Nova is a bit more cautious, keeping an eye on her surroundings,» he said in a blog post.
Both cubs were being trained to obey keepers’ commands to return, the Houston Zoo said in 2020. «They have learned to voluntarily enter a cage, so they can be safely transported if necessary,» it said at the time. .
The smallest of the ‘big cats’
Edell said clouded leopards weigh between 20 and 25 pounds and pose no danger to people. They are among the smallest wild «big cats» in the world (tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, cheetahs, and pumas).
The animals inhabit the cloud forests of Southeast Asia and are one of the oldest cat species, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoological and Conservation Biology Institute. Clouded leopards are described as a vulnerable species, the institute said, adding that fewer than 10,000 mature individuals are estimated to remain in the wild.
Edell said the missing clouded leopard is likely hunting squirrels and birds.
«Our focus at this time is to locate the animal,» the zoo said.
2004 gorilla escape
On March 18, 2004, a 350-pound gorilla escaped its enclosure at the Dallas Zoo’s 106-acre Wilds of Africa exhibit, injuring four before it was fatally shot by police.
Two teenagers standing on a path overlooking the gorilla exhibit threw ice or rocks at Jabari, according to zoo records obtained by the Dallas Morning News in the days that followed.
The 13-year-old gorilla escaped from his walled compound and went on a rampage, grabbing a small boy in his teeth and attacking three others before officers apprehended him.
A tranquilizer gun used by zoo staff had jammed, records show, and police opened fire when Jabari was within 15 feet of officers with a pair of children’s sandals in his hands, the newspaper reported, citing those records.
An injured child was treated at the scene and released. A woman thrown against a wall by the gorilla was hospitalized with arm injuries.
Rivers Herd, 3 years old at the time, was seriously injured when the gorilla bit and scratched him. His mother, Keisha Herd, 26, was hospitalized with minor injuries.
The boy told his mother after the attack that Jabari «tried to eat his head off,» his father told NBC News at the time.