(Dallas) The Dallas Zoo emergency closed Friday after a clouded leopard escaped from its enclosure, prompting police to search for it.
Officials said the animal was not dangerous and was likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds.
According to Harrison Edell, executive vice president of animal care and conservation at the Dallas Zoo, the feline would weigh about ten pounds. Research within the confines of Texas’ largest zoo has focused on trees, with clouded leopards loving to climb.
On Twitter, the zoo said in a tweet that the disappearance of the animal, which bears the name Nova, was a “serious situation”. Mr Edell, however, said the panther posed no threat to humans, adding that it was “really nervous” and scared of people.
The official did not explain how the feline escaped from its enclosure, but said another clouded leopard at the zoo, Nova’s sister, was still in its habitat.
This isn’t the first time animals have escaped from enclosures at the Dallas Zoo. In 2004, a gorilla weighing more than 150 kg named Jabari jumped over a wall and went on a rampage for 40 minutes, injuring three people before the police shot him dead.