Clouded leopard missing from Dallas Zoo after fence ‘intentionally cut’ | CNN

CNN
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Dallas police have launched a criminal investigation after officials at the city’s zoo, searching for a clouded leopard that went missing Friday, determined that fencing for the big cat’s exhibit had been cut.

On Friday morning, the Texas zoo tweeted that they were closed due to a “serious situation.”

“We have an ongoing situation at the Zoo right now with a Code Blue – that is a non-dangerous animal that is out of its habitat,” said the zoo in a subsequent tweet. “One of our clouded leopards was not in its habitat when the team arrived this morning and is unaccounted for at this time.”

The zoo added that the Dallas Police Department was on site and assisting with the search for the leopard, a female named Nova.

Nova’s disappearance was the result of tampering with her enclosure, police said at a Friday afternoon press conference.

“It is our belief that this was an intentional act, so we have started a criminal investigation,” said Dallas Police Sergeant Warren Mitchell at the press conference. “The fence it escaped from was intentionally cut.”

The zoo was closed Friday as workers and police searched for the missing feline. “It was clear that this opening was not a habitat failure, it wasn’t an exhibit failure, and it wasn’t keeper error,” said Dallas Zoo CEO Gregg Hudson.

Zoo officials said they were not sure whether Nova is still on the grounds of the zoo.

“It’s a really good likelihood that if she were out and is still on grounds, she’s likely hiding out somewhere up high in a treetop,” said Harrison Edell, the zoo’s vice president for animal care and conservation.

Dallas police declined to provide any specific information about the investigation into who cut the clouded leopard’s fence or a possible motive. Officials said the zoo intends to reopen its Wilds of Africa section, which is separated by a creek from the area that includes the leopard exhibit.

Clouded leopards are categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature due to habitat loss and poaching. There are around 10,000 of the felines left in the wild across southeast Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund. The leopards typically weigh between 11 and 20 kilos, or 24 and 44 pounds, according to the WWF.

In March, the zoo posted a video on its YouTube channel of its two clouded leopard sisters, Nova and Luna. In the video, the zoo’s associate curator of mammals, Lisa Van Slett, explained that clouded leopards are unique among other cat species because they are arboreal, spending much of their time in trees. The sisters arrived at the Dallas Zoo from the Houston Zoo, she said.

Zoological manager Audra C. added in the video that little is known about the “amazing species” in the wild due to their “aloof personalities.”