Leopard gets loose at Washington state zoo before returning safely to habitat
An 11-year-old female clouded leopard managed to slip her restraints during a show Friday at a zoo in Washington state and climb into a tree.
The leopard, named Orchid, was part of an 11:30 a.m. show at Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium in Tacoma, 30 miles south of Seattle.
The tree she climbed is behind the zoo’s theater and near its perimeter fence.
Zoo spokeswoman Tessa Miller told Tacoma’s News Tribune that Orchid was restrained with multiple leashes but got startled during the show and got one of the leashes wrapped around a log, loosening the leash’s metal ring from Orchid’s collar.
Zoo staff closed off pathways near the theater during the incident, and Orchid remained in the tree for almost three hours.
Ms. Miller told the newspaper that after keepers failed to coax Orchid to exit the tree of her own volition, they used a sedative dart and safely caught the 34-pound clouded leopard, one of five at the zoo, before returning the animal to her habitat at 2:23 p.m.
Zoo officials said no people or animals were harmed during the course of the incident.