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Dallas Zoo forced to close after LOSING its Nova Clouded Leopard, which may be hiding somewhere on the grounds
- The small clouded leopard Nova is not in its enclosure at the Dallas Zoo
- Officials said the animal, which weighs between 20 and 25 pounds, is “not dangerous” and is likely hiding on zoo grounds.
- The search inside the largest zoo in Texas focused on scrubbing trees, which clouded leopards like to climb.
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A missing clouded leopard shut down the Dallas Zoo on Friday as police helped search for the animal that officials described as non-dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on zoo grounds.
The little cat, named Nova, weighs between 20 and 25 pounds, said Harrison Edell, executive vice president of animal care and conservation at the Dallas Zoo. The search inside the largest zoo in Texas focused on scrubbing trees, which Edell said clouded leopards like to climb.
The zoo tweeted that the missing cat, named Nova, was a “serious situation,” but Edell said the animal did not pose a threat to humans.
“If anything, she’s very nervous and scared of people,” Edell said.
The search for the missing clouded leopard Nova shut down the Dallas Zoo on Friday when police helped search for the animal that officials described as non-dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on zoo grounds.
The zoo tweeted that the missing cat, named Nova, was a “serious situation,” but Edell said the animal did not pose a threat to humans. The police have now joined the search for the cat.
Police cars outside the Dallas Zoo as workers and police search for the missing cloud leopard
He did not say how the animal escaped from its enclosure. Another clouded leopard at the zoo, Nova’s sister, was still in her habitat, Edell said.
On Friday, 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, which is a non-dangerous animal that is out of its habitat,” the zoo posted in a tweet.
“One of our clouded leopards was not in the wild when the team arrived this morning and is currently missing.”
The zoo added that the Dallas Police Department was on the scene and assisted with the search for the big cat.
“Given the nature of these animals, we believe the animal is still in hiding,” the zoo said. “Our focus right now is to locate the animal.”
Animals have escaped from the Dallas Zoo enclosures before. Most notably in 2004, when a 340-pound gorilla named Jabari jumped over a wall and went on a 40-minute rampage that injured three people before police shot and killed the animal.
According to the World Wide Fund for Nature, there are 10,000 clouded leopards left in the wild in Southeast Asia. The animals are categorized as ‘vulnerable’ due to habitat loss and poaching, according to the International Union for Conservation.