Dallas Zoo monkey enclosure fencing cut on same day as tampering that allowed leopard to escape, police say
A Dallas police vehicle sits at an entrance to the Dallas Zoo on Friday morning.
By Andy Rose and Ashley Killough, CNN
Fencing that was cut at the Dallas Zoo’s clouded leopard habitat Friday — resulting in the escape of one of the animals — wasn’t the only apparent tampering at the zoo that day, police said.
“Zoo personnel showed investigators a similar cut found at a habitat that enclosed a breed of monkey known as Langurs,” the Dallas Police Department said in a news release.
A clouded leopard named Nova disappeared Friday morning after her enclosure was cut open in what police called “an intentional act,” prompting the zoo to close.
The leopard was found safe Friday night on the grounds of the zoo, which reopened Saturday. Despite the cut fence, none of the langurs escaped.
Dallas Police said the cutting of the two enclosures remains under investigation. “It is unknown if the two incidents are related,” police said Saturday.
Clouded leopards are categorized as “vulnerable” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature due to habitat loss and poaching.
There are around 10,000 of the felines left in the wild across southeast Asia, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The leopards typically weigh between 11 and 20 kilos, or 24 and 44 pounds, according to the World Wildlife Fund.
The zoo said Nova was being given a veterinary exam Friday evening, but there were no initial signs of injury.
The-CNN-Wire
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