New Orleans: A Jaguar has reportedly escaped from its enclosure in New Orleans yesterday morning and was on rampage before it was captured by zoo’s veterinary team according to Reuters.
The male Jaguar named Valerio escaped the Audubon Zoo around 7:20 a.m. (1220 GMT), and killed 6 animals – four alpaca, an emu and a fox in the nearby habitats before the vet team sedated the big cat in less than an hour.
The zoo remained closed for the day. No people were injured in the rampage said zoo officials.
It is not known to how the big cat escaped the enclosure but the zoo officials are investigating.
“We’re looking at every possible cause,” Kyle Burks, zoo’s vice president and managing director, said at a news conference at the zoo.
Speaking about the jaguar’s attack that killed 6 animals was likely territorial and not a hunt for the food, officials said.
“He’s a young male jaguar – he was doing what jaguars do,” said Joel Hamilton, the zoo’s general curator.
This big cat Valerio was born three years ago at the San Diego Zoo in March 2015 and was later moved to the New Orleans zoo in October 2017.