‘Intentionally cut’: Leopard escapes zoo after fence tampered with

The zoo issued a “code blue” after staff arrived to find an empty enclosure and the fence “intentionally” cut.

A clouded leopard escaped Dallas Zoo after was fence cut. Picture: Twitter

Dallas Zoo officials suspect a clouded leopard escaped from its enclosure after its fence was “intentionally cut”.

Dallas Zoo was closed and sent into “code blue” shortly before midday Friday local time – Saturday morning AEST.

“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 wrote on social media.

Crews found Nova, the female leopard, more than five hours later, not too far from her enclosure.

ABC News reported that authorities believe Nova escaped through a tear in the mesh around its enclosure at Texas’s largest zoo.

A clouded leopard escaped Dallas Zoo after its fence was cut. Picture: Twitter

Dallas Police Sgt. Warren Mitchell said it appeared to have been “intentionally cut”.

“It was their belief, and it is our belief that this was an intentional act,” he said.

“And so we have started a criminal investigation.”

Harrison Edell, the executive vice president of animal care at the zoo, said the leopard is about four years old, and that clouded leopards are only a tiny species of leopard.

Females are said to weigh only about 11kg.

We are thrilled to report we located clouded leopard Nova on-grounds at the Zoo this afternoon at approximated 4:40 p.m. She was located very near the original habitat, and teams were able to safely secure her just before 5:15 p.m. pic.twitter.com/XucvBrQO4V

— Dallas Zoo (@DallasZoo) January 13, 2023

“She does not pose a threat to humans,” he explained.

“More likely than not, when she’s scared, she’s going to climb a tree, stay out of our way, hunt some squirrels and birds, and hope not to be noticed.”

Authorities are confident the leopard did not leave the zoo grounds.

Mr Edell said he was confident the big cat hadn’t left the zoo.

Clouded leopards inhabit southeast Asia and China, and males can grow to 22kg.

They generally eat monkeys, small deer and boars in the wild.