The Dallas Zoo alerted police to the “rare” death of an endangered vulture in its Wilds of Africa habitat over the weekend, about a week after a clouded leopard escaped through a “suspicious opening.”
“The animal care team is heartbroken by this tremendous loss,” the Dallas Zoo wrote on Twitter Sunday, noting that the “circumstances of death are unusual” and “does not appear to be from natural causes.”
“Given the recent incidents at the zoo, we alerted the Dallas Police Department.”
The vulture’s death comes after a clouded leopard, Nova, escaped through an opening in his exhibit a week ago. She followed an hour-long search and eventually found the big cat unharmed and still on the zoo grounds.
The Dallas Zoo is closed as officials search for an escaped clouded leopard, Friday, January 13, 2023.
(KDFW)
Officials said at the time that the opening of the Nova exhibit was intentionally cut short.
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While investigating how Nova escaped, another opening was found that appeared to have been intentionally cut in a langur monkey exhibit. None of the monkeys had escaped the habitat, but police opened a criminal mischief report.
In this undated photo provided by the Dallas Zoo, a clouded leopard named Nova rests on a tree branch in an enclosure.
(Dallas Zoo via AP)
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The Dallas Zoo said it has added additional security cameras on the grounds and increased security patrols at night.
“We will continue to implement and expand our safety and security measures to the level necessary to keep our animals and staff safe,” the Dallas Zoo said.
