DALLAS (NewsNation) — Police investigating how a clouded leopard escaped her enclosure at the Dallas Zoo on Friday determined that a cutting tool was used to intentionally make an opening in the small cat’s habitat fence. Investigators also discovered a second, similar cut at the habitat for small monkeys.
Dallas police said Saturday evening that they did not know if the two incidents were related. None of the langur monkeys escaped and none appeared to be harmed.
Dallas Police responded to the zoo regarding missing a clouded leopard on Friday after zoo employees discovered Nova was missing from her habitat.
After a daylong search of the 100-acre zoo, Nova was discovered by late afternoon near her habitat. The Dallas Zoo told NewsNation that they discovered Nova after a rogue, vocal squirrel tipped them off to an area to focus their search.
After it was determined that Nova wasn’t injured, the zoo said that she spent Saturday with her sister, Luna, in their habitat, “perched up on a high branch while oh-so-many guests stopped by to wish her well.”
Police and zoo officials have said they have reviewed surveillance footage but would not say what it showed or whether there were potential suspects.
Animals have escaped enclosures from the Dallas Zoo before. The most notable escape was in 2004, when a 340-pound gorilla named Jabari jumped over a wall and went on a 40-minute rampage that injured three people before police shot and killed the animal.
On Friday, the Dallas Police Department opened a criminal investigation into the incident after it was determined to be an intentional cut in the habitat’s wire mesh. The investigation remains ongoing.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This unadate image provided by the Dallas Zoo, a clouded leopard named Nova rests on a tree limb in an enclosure at the Dallas Zoo. Nova, a missing clouded leopard, shut down the Dallas Zoo on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, as police helped search for the animal that officials described as not dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds. (Dallas Zoo via AP)
The entrance at the Dallas Zoo is shown Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2023. A missing clouded leopard shut down the zo on Friday as police helped search for the animal that officials described as not dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds. (Shakfat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
A Dallas police vehicle sits at an entrance at the Dallas Zoo, Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2023. A missing clouded leopard shut down the zo on Friday as police helped search for the animal that officials described as not dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds. (Shakfat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
A pair of Dallas police vehicles and officers sit at an entrance at the Dallas Zoo, Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2023. A missing clouded leopard shut down the zo on Friday as police helped search for the animal that officials described as not dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds. (Shakfat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
Dallas police officers work the scene at the Dallas Zoo, Friday morning, Jan. 13, 2023. A missing clouded leopard shut down the zo on Friday as police helped search for the animal that officials described as not dangerous and likely hiding somewhere on the zoo grounds. (Shakfat Anowar/The Dallas Morning News via AP)
