A missing clouded leopard was found safe Friday afternoon after escaping its Dallas Zoo enclosure hours earlier, zoo officials announced.
The clouded leopard, named Nova, “was located very close to the original habitat, and teams were able to safely secure her just before 5:15 p.m.,” the zoo tweeted.
Dallas police opened a criminal investigation Friday after discovering that the fence around Nova’s enclosure had been intentionally cut, police and the zoo said.
On Saturday, police said a cutting tool was used to make a hole in the wall of the leopard’s habitat. Police said similar cuts were made in the habitat of the langur monkey breed.
All langurs were accounted for and “did not appear to be harmed or in any danger,” police said. They said it was not clear whether the two incidents were related.
The zoo closed for the day on Friday as it dealt with the escape of the clouded leopard, which it described as a “serious incident”. Officials said the animal was not dangerous.
“We currently have an ongoing situation at the zoo with Code Blue – that is a non-threatening animal that is out of its habitat,” the zoo tweeted Friday morning.
Nova is likely what zoo officials initially described as a tear in the enclosure cage she shared with her sister Luna.
Zoo officials didn’t think Nova would go far because she is close to Luna, who is still at the shelter. They were right: she was found on zoo property.
Nova likely escaped and hid in a treetop, said Harrison Edel, executive vice president of animal care and conservation at the Dallas Zoo.
Police initially sent a SWAT team to the zoo because they were unsure of the cat’s size, Mitchell said.
The zoo said on Saturday that an “extremely vocal” squirrel sent staff into an area to search for Nova, who was beginning to emerge from her hiding spot at the time.
She was rescued and returned to her habitat about 30 minutes later, the zoo said.
Nova was evaluated by veterinarians and animal care teams and returned to her habitat, where she remained in the upper branch on Saturday, according to the zoo.
Nova and Luna arrive in Dallas
Nova was born in November 2019 with Luna at the Houston Zoo. On his first birthday, before the Leopards moved to Dallas, the Houston organization described Luna as outgoing and Nova as reserved.
“Nova is a bit more cautious, keeping an eye on her surroundings,” it said in a blog entry.
The Houston Zoo said in 2020 that both cubs were trained to obey handlers’ commands. “They have learned to enter a crate voluntarily so that they can be safely transported if necessary,” it was said at the time.
Houston Zoo spokeswoman Jessica Reyes said Nova and Luna were transferred to the Dallas Zoo in July 2021, based on the Association of Zoos and Aquariums recommendations to ensure a genetically diverse population of animals in zoos and aquariums.
The smallest of the ‘big cats’
Adel said clouded leopards weigh 20 to 25 pounds and pose no threat to humans. They are among the world’s smallest wild “big cats” (tigers, lions, jaguars, leopards, cheetahs, and cougars).
According to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, the animal lives in the cloud forests of Southeast Asia and is one of the oldest cat species. The clouded leopard is described as a vulnerable species, the institute said, adding that it is estimated that fewer than 10,000 mature individuals remain in the wild.
Adele said Nova was hunting squirrels and birds on Friday.
2004 Gorilla Escape
On March 18, 2004, a 350-pound gorilla escaped from its enclosure at the 106-acre Dallas Zoo’s Wild of Africa exhibit, only to be fatally shot by police, injuring four people.
Two teenage boys standing on the road looking at the gorilla exhibit threw ice or rocks at Jabari, according to zoo records obtained by the Dallas Morning News in the following days.
The 13-year-old gorilla escaped from his walled compound and mauled one child with his teeth before attacking three others before being stopped by officers.
A tranquilizer gun used by zoo employees jammed, according to the records, and police opened fire when he was within 15 feet of officers holding a pair of children’s slippers in his hand, the newspaper reported, citing those records.
The injured child was treated at the scene and released. A woman who was thrown against a wall by the gorilla was hospitalized with a hand injury.
At that time, 3-year-old Rivers Herd was seriously injured after being bitten and strangled by a gorilla. His mother, Kesha Heard, 26, was hospitalized with minor injuries.
After the attack, the child told his mother, “Trying to eat his head,” his father said.