The Dallas Zoo was closed on Friday after issuing a “Code Blue” and calling the police to assist tackle a “serious situation.”
Nova, a 25-pound clouded leopard, was lacking.
Golf carts rolled down empty pedestrian walkways as helicopters and drones hovered overhead. Zoo employees and Dallas law enforcement officials used binoculars to comb the treetops throughout the 106-acre zoo.
On Friday morning, zoologists discovered a tear within the mesh within the zoo’s two-story clouded leopard enclosure. Investigating additional, they discovered Luna, a 3- or 4-year-old clouded leopard, safely in her habitat. However Nova, her sister, was gone.
The zoo issued a Code Blue, that means a “nondangerous animal” was lacking from its enclosure, Harrison Edell, the zoo’s government vp for animal care and conservation, advised reporters on Friday.
Mr. Edell stated the Dallas police responded, bringing drones with “infrared capabilities,” which helped zoo employees to scan the treetops.
He emphasised that Nova posed no hazard to people and most definitely had not left the zoo property.
As a result of clouded leopards “are designed for all times within the bushes,” she had in all probability climbed one and would “keep out of our approach, hunt some squirrels and check out to not be observed,” he stated.
Mr. Edell stated members of the zoo’s employees believed that each clouded leopards had been nonetheless of their enclosure at 1 a.m. Friday. There was hope that the timing of Nova’s escape, in winter when the bushes are naked, would make her simpler to identify, he stated.
Luna and Nova arrived on the Dallas Zoo from the Houston Zoo in September 2021, in line with a submit on the Dallas Zoo’s Instagram account.
Clouded leopards have gotten extra widespread at zoos throughout the nation due to their inclusion in a species-survival program, stated Paul Frandsen, a professor of plant and wildlife sciences at Brigham Younger College.
“The females are a little bit bit nicer than the males,” Dr. Frandsen stated. “However I believe, like all wild animal, that they’re not completely domesticated. It’s not like a little bit cat.”
Clouded leopards are native to Southeast Asia and are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The identify refers back to the markings on the leopards’ fur, which may appear to be clouds, however Dr. Frandsen stated he likes to consider the identify as a nod to their treetop dwellings.
Whereas Mr. Edell stated officers didn’t imagine Nova had left the Dallas Zoo, he inspired anybody who sees her to contact the zoo by calling its important cellphone quantity or by writing the zoo by electronic mail or by its social media accounts.
Whereas Nova just isn’t thought-about harmful, he cautioned folks to not method her.
“Though this can be a small cat — she’s solely 25 kilos; this isn’t a tiger or a lion — she’s nonetheless bought a full complement of claws and tooth,” he stated.
Dr. Frandsen additionally pressured that individuals ought to maintain their distance.
“Once they’re pressured, then that can be a little bit bit harmful, nevertheless it’s not like a lion,” he stated. “So I believe it could be in all probability not good for a human to go up and method a clouded leopard, even when it’s a captive-bred particular person.”