Leopard escapes at Dallas zoo, prompting closure, ‘Code Blue’ alert By Reuters

By Dan Whitcomb

(Reuters) -A 25-pound (11.3-kg) clouded leopard escaped its habitat at the Dallas zoo on Friday, prompting officers to shut down the park and issue a “Code Blue” notify, whilst they certain nearby citizens that the large cat was not hazardous.

Zoo employees were being exploring the 106-acre (43-hectare) grounds for the escapee, indicating the feline, a 3- to 4-year-aged woman, was unlikely to have left the assets solely for the reason that of a perimeter fence and the territorial mother nature of cats.

“She does not pose a danger to individuals,” Harrison Edell, the zoo’s vice president for animal care and conservation, instructed reporters at a news conference.

“Far more most likely than not when she’s fearful she’s heading to climb a tree, remain out of our way, hunt some squirrels and birds and hope not to be discovered,” Edell stated.

The clouded leopard, a single of two sisters kept at the Dallas Zoo, was discovered missing at mid-early morning. The “Code Blue” notify notifies all staff that a non-perilous animal is missing.

Edell said it not known specifically when the cat made its getaway, but she appeared to have slipped by means of a tear in mesh bordering the enclosure someday right away. The next clouded leopard did not escape, he stated.

He mentioned it was not distinct how the mesh became torn but reported it was too to say if there was any human involvement.

Clouded leopards, so-referred to as since of their cloud-like fur styles, are in a drop in the wild and inhabit dense forests in the foothills of the Himalayas, Southeast Asia and South China.

Zoo officers stated that even though the clouded leopard would probably be found on the property, area people should really be on the lookout for a very huge cat.

“She’s still got a whole enhance of claws and enamel,” Edell explained. “We you should not want any person making an attempt to seize her. She’s not a dwelling cat, this is even now a wild animal. But any pictures or guidelines would be beneficial.”