Dallas Zoo Closes as Staff, Police Search for Escaped Clouded Leopard - NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Dallas Police are helping hunt the Dallas Zoo Friday for a missing clouded leopard, a tiny feline that poses nary menace to humans who escaped its situation overnight.

The Dallas Zoo posted connected societal media Friday greeting that the zoo is closed owed to a superior concern -- a Code Blue, which indicated a non-dangerous carnal was retired of its habitat.

"One of our clouded leopards was not successful its situation erstwhile the squad arrived this greeting and is unaccounted for astatine this time," the zoo said successful their statement. "The Zoo is closed contiguous arsenic our teams enactment to find and retrieve the animal."

The zoo identified the missing clouded leopard arsenic Nova and said she escaped her situation done a teardrop successful the mesh enclosure she shares with her sister Luna. Both cats were brought to the Dallas Zoo successful 2021 aft being raised astatine the Houston Zoo, according to our partners astatine The Dallas Morning News.

Harrison Edell, vice president for carnal attraction astatine the Dallas Zoo, said Friday greeting that clouded leopards are dramatically antithetic animals from different leopards. They are overmuch smaller, measurement astir 30 pounds and airs nary information to people.

Edell said portion Nova could beryllium scared, it's astir apt that she climbed a histrion to enactment retired of the way, hunt squirrels and birds and anticipation to not beryllium noticed.

Because it is wintertime and determination are acold less leaves connected the trees, Edell said it should marque uncovering Nova easier. While staffers are looking into trees from the ground, utilizing binoculars, clouded leopards are precise bully astatine staying hidden. He added that the Dallas Police are assisting successful the search, looking astatine treetops with drones equipped with infrared technology.

The zoo said they judge Nova is inactive wrong the zoo and is hiding. The clouded leopard situation is successful Primate Place, successful the northwest portion of the zoo, northbound of Clarendon Drive.

Should anyone adjacent the zoo spot a feline that is larger than a location feline and smaller than a bobcat, they are encouraged to telephone the police. While the carnal isn't threatening to people, it's inactive a chaotic carnal and radical should not effort to drawback the carnal connected their own.

The zoo is closed Friday portion the hunt for the carnal is ongoing.

WHAT IS A CLOUDED LEOPARD?

According to the Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute, clouded leopards are autochthonal to Southeast Asia and are a susceptible species. Male cats measurement up to 50 pounds portion the females are smaller and measurement 25-35 pounds.

The cats person ample paws and are precise adept astatine climbing and are 1 of the fewer animals that tin ascent down trees headfirst.

"Clouded leopards are not a 'type' of leopard arsenic their sanction implies. They are a abstracted taxon of chaotic cat, arsenic are snowfall leopards and leopards," the Smithsonian reports.

The cats are carnivores that stalk their prey from the trees and onslaught from above. The Smithsonian said a clouded leopard volition devour gibbons, macaques, dilatory loris, tiny cervid and chaotic boars.

According to a representation of the Dallas Zoo, the gibbon situation is adjacent to the clouded leopard habitat.

They are chiefly nocturnal and with an mean beingness span of 12-15 years. With quality care, the cats tin unrecorded 17 years, the Smithsonian said.

PAST ANIMAL ESCAPES AT THE DALLAS ZOO

In 2004, a 13-year-old gorilla named Jabari cleared a 14-foot partition and injured 4 radical earlier being changeable by Dallas Police. After that incident, the zoo beefed up information measures astatine the exhibit.

In 2010, Tufani the gorilla escaped her locked surviving quarters and was spotted by a zoo worker preparing nutrient down a closed door. The zoo tranquilized Tufani and returned her to her surviving country wrong an hour. No injuries were reported.

In 2011, Koko, a chimpanzee astatine the Dallas Zoo, was sedated after concisely escaping from her enclosure. The carnal stayed successful an country not unfastened to the public. No injuries were reported.

Two weeks aft Koko's escape, besides successful 2011, a spider monkey concisely escaped from its enclosure and was connected apical of it's situation for astir a fractional hour. Zoo officials said astatine the clip that the carnal fundamentally "got retired of his bedroom, but was inactive successful the house." The spider monkey's flight was attributed to quality error. No injuries were reported.

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