Leopard Reported Missing

Danger! Danger! Leopard missing!


This morning zookeepers at the Durham Zoo discovered that their rare spotted leopard had apparently gone missing. A search of the zoo grounds is underway, but the leopard may have left the area and be walking through Durham.


“We will first search every inch of this zoo,” said Police Chief William Blair. “If possible, Fluffy will be shot with a tranquilizer gun. But if necessary, we will shoot to kill.”


The 10-year-old Romanian spotted leopard---whose name is Fluffy--is black with white spots, weighs 146 pounds and can run 60 miles per hour. A rare breed of leopard, it is the only known female spotted leopard in existence. Its kind was driven to the brink of extinction in Romania due to its appetite for children under 8 years old.
 

"Fluffy is a wonderful, warm, gentle cat who has never hurt anyone," said the zoo's chief zoologist, Kitty Smith. "But if these cats are cornered--or encountered on a dark night or in a dark alley--their defense is to kill, and to kill quickly."


If you encounter the leopard, the best course of action is to avoid eye contact at all costs and to slowly drop to the ground, go limp and lay still. Fluffy may sniff and lick you, but she is not likely to react violently unless she senses fear.


The Durham Police, in addition to the New Hampshire State Police and the State Wildlife Department, are scouring every inch of the zoo in order to find the leopard. If their search is futile, they will begin to search the neighborhood—moving farther and farther away from the zoo.

 
“We are concerned because this is a residential neighborhood with an elementary school and many daycare centers and we don’t want Fluffy wandering around after the kids get out of school,” said Blair.


Their goal is to find her by 2 p.m. before schools let out for the day. If this does not happen, it could be a “very messy night”, according to Blair. Leopards have excellent night vision and to combat this advantage, the National Guard is supplying five helicopters with infrared sensors.


“We’re gonna find this cat if it kills us,” said Blair.
 

Finding Fluffy is a must because not only is she a threat to the public, but she is also loved among the zoo workers and the Durham community.


“We love that cat, and we don’t want to lose her,” said zoo director Gerry Durrell.
 

Fellow Fluffy fan James Petronkis is equally upset. A resident of Newmarket, he comes to the zoo every day in order to see Fluffy. When he arrived this morning at 9:30, everything seemed normal. But once he got to the cage, he could tell that something was wrong.


“Fluffy usually draws the straw up into a nest when she sleeps,” said Petronkis, “but there was no nest—there wasn’t even any straw.”


Petronkis claims that he told the guard and was told to mind his own business. To get the attention of the zoo workers, he pulled the fire alarm. After a half hour in which nothing happened, Petronkis told them again. When they checked the cage, they discovered that the leopard was missing and, as Petronkis puts it, “all hell broke loose.”

 
Police flocked to the scene and visitors were pushed toward the exits. Petronkis hid behind a building to witness the events unfolding.

 

“Cops with guns drawn were everywhere,” he said. “People were screaming. It sounded like a thousand cars squealing their tires. It was mayhem.”

 

According to Durrell, they immediately noticed Fluffy’s absence when they opened the zoo this morning at 9:30. The door was shut and did not appear to be altered. The fencing was unbroken and everything seemed normal at the time. Fluffy was last seen in her cage last night at 9 o’clock.

 

“We have no idea what time Fluffy escaped or where she went,” said Durrell, who teared up while speaking to reporters. “We are doing everything we can to find her and bring her back.”