Texas Zoo closed after leopard escapes from enclosure

The Dallas Zoo is closed until further notice after caretakers discovered that a clouded leopard was missing from its enclosure Friday morning,

Officials at the Dallas Zoo issued a “code blue” — meaning that a non-dangerous animal is out of its habitat — according to a Friday morning tweet. They also said in the message that the park will be closed to visitors “due to a serious situation.”

We have an ongoing situation at the Zoo right now with a Code Blue – that is a non-dangerous animal that is out of its habitat. One of our clouded leopards was not in its habitat when the team arrived this morning and is unaccounted for at this time.

— Dallas Zoo (@DallasZoo) January 13, 2023

“One of our clouded leopards was not in its habitat when the team arrived this morning and is unaccounted for at this time," zoo officials tweeted around 10 a.m.

Dallas Police Department is assisting in the search for the big cat, which authorities believe is hiding somewhere within the park, according to the tweet.

“Our focus right now is on locating the animal,” Dallas Zoo officials added.

Twitter users were quick to poke fun at the potentially dangerous situation, with some suggesting that authorities use a red laser pointer to lure the leopard back into its habitat.

Time to break out the red laser toy

— David Burrows (@dmburrows) January 13, 2023

Others were surprised that the Dallas Zoo described the jungle cat as a “non-dangerous animal.”

Explain to me how a *leopard* counts as a non-dangerous animal.

Explain it to me like I'm a five year old with a really short attention span.

— SteelPhoenix78 #ABetterABK (@SteelPhoenix78) January 13, 2023

If a leopard is non-dangerous then what is considered dangerous?

— smoody (@smoodypat) January 13, 2023

The clouded leopard is larger than a house cat but smaller than other big cats such as lions or cougar, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Institute. Even so, clouded leopards posses long canine teeth and can take down prey including small deer and wild boar.

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