Police say they believe the mesh fence surround the leopard’s enclosure was intentionally cut.
DALLAS — A Dallas Police Department spokesperson said during a 4 p.m. press conference at the Dallas Zoo they believe the mesh fence surrounding a clouded leopard’s enclosure was intentionally cut.
“Investigators looked at the area and it is our belief this was an intentionala ct and so we have started a criminal investigation,” DPD Public Information Officer Sgt. Warren Mitchell said at the press conference.
Mitchell said police don’t know how the cat came up missing, but that they know the fence it escaped from was intentionally cut. A crime scene evidence team was dispatched and collected evidence at the scene.
Mitchell said they have reviewed surveillance video but not enough to give information on what they have seen.
Police are encouraging anyone who knows anything about the incident or may have seen anything to call 911.
The Dallas Zoo was closed Friday morning after a clouded leopard was reported missing and crews were trying to find it.
Police are still investigating and the zoo is still being searched for the missing leopard.
The zoo around 10:15 a.m. posted that it was closed “due to a serious situation.”
Zoo officials said they issued a “code blue” for 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,” the zoo said in a statement on Facebook. “Given the nature of these animals, we believe the animal is still on grounds and hiding.”
Dallas police were helping the zoo search for the cat, whose name is Nova, who is 3-4 years old, officials said. Multiple police units were on the scene, including officers with a drone.
Harrison Edell, the executive vice president of animal care at the zoo, said zoologists discovered that Nova was missing Friday morning.
Nova’s sister, Luna, was safe in the enclosure, but Nova was missing, and employees saw a tear in a mesh in the enclosure.
Edell said zoo officials then triggered the “code blue.”
Nova is about 20-25 pounds and does not pose a danger to the humans, Edell said.
Nova, when scared, is likely to climb a tree, “hunt some squirrels and birds and hope not to be noticed,” Edell said.
“Thinking like a cat, she likely went straight up to the trees and has not come down,” Edell said.
Zoo employees believe the animal was still on zoo property.
Clouded leopards can can weigh up to 50 pounds, though females are generally smaller, according to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo & Conservation Biology Institute.
The Dallas Zoo last year released a video about the two clouded leopard sisters at the zoo, Nova and Luna.
Clouded leopards are native to Southeast Asia, according to the Smithsonian zoo.
“However, they are neither a true great cat nor a true small cat, because they cannot roar or purr,” the Smithsonian zoo website said. “Poaching and habitat loss threaten this vulnerable species.”