Dallas Zoo Captures Escaped Leopard After All-Day Search Caused Shut Down

Topline

The Dallas Zoo located and secured a clouded leopard Friday afternoon after she somehow escaped her enclosure earlier in the day, prompting a shut down of the facility and a search that involved Dallas police.

Key Facts

The 25-pound female clouded leopard, named Nova, was located near her enclosure at 4:40 p.m. Central time and then secured around 5:15 p.m., the zoo tweeted.

Veterinary staff are evaluating her but “initial indications are she is not injured,” according to the zoo.

The zoo tweeted the leopard was “unaccounted for” when a team arrived at the habitat this morning, adding it was likely she was still on the grounds.

Dallas police were called in to assist the search, according to the zoo, which occupies 106 acres of space three miles south of downtown.

Surprising Fact

Multiple Dallas news networks broadcasted live helicopter coverage of the search effort Friday afternoon.

Key Background

Clouded leopards are native to southeast Asia and is known as a “mysterious” animal whose habits are not well understood, according to National Geographic, though they are known for their climbing skills. The cats are considered “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature—one step short of endangered. Clouded leopards typically stand around two to three feet tall and weigh about 50 pounds, making them immensely smaller than more commonly known wild cats, like lions, tigers and cheetahs. Despite their small stature, clouded leopards still possess the fierce instincts of larger felines, Sara Bjerklie, an assistant zoological manager at the Dallas Zoo, told the Morning News.

Tangent

Zoo escapes are fairly rare, and dangerous animal escapes even more so. But one of those extremely rare instances happened in New Orleans in 2018, when a jaguar poked a hole in its enclosure and went on an overnight rampage, killing all six alpacas at the Audubon Zoo along with three foxes and an emu before the big cat was finally subdued. The male jaguar, named “Valerio,” eventually returned to his enclosure and remains at the zoo.

Further Reading

Dallas Zoo closes, issues ‘code blue’ for missing clouded leopard (Dallas Morning News)

Four months after killing spree, how soon will Audubon Zoo jaguar be back in public? (Times-Picayune)