Animal lovers have urged armed police not to shoot a wolf which escaped from an animal sanctuary when high winds blew down part of its enclosure.
The animal – believed to be a Canadian wolf called Mai – is being tracked through the Berkshire countryside by officers, who may have to shoot it if it strays too close to the M4 motorway.
The 11-year-old wolf escaped from UK Wolf Conservation Trust based in Butlers Farm in Beenham and has since walked around six miles to the west, where it is currently near the village of Curridge.
The centre it escaped from is around two miles from Bucklebury, the village where the Duchess of Cambridge’s parents, Carole and Michael Middleton, live.
A wolf has escaped from UK Wolf Conservation Trust based in Butlers Farm in Beenham, Berkshire. Pictured, Mai, the wolf thought to have escaped
TV presenter Anneka Svenska shared this photo of herself with Mai when the wolf was younger
Wildlife TV presenter Anneka Svenska tweeted a photo of herself with the message: ‘Mai the wolf is not dangerous! This is her with me.
‘Please capture her unharmed, Thames Valley Police. These wolves are gentle at the Wolf Conservation Trust and won’t hurt kids!’
She added: ‘I am REALLY WORRIED that police will hurt this gentle wolf called Mai – she is old and gentle – Please capture her safely!!! She won’t hurt anyone. Please let the wolf experts handle this!!!’
A police spokesman said: ‘We have deployed an armed response unit to the scene and officers have sight of the wolf. Together with staff from the sanctuary, they are trying to detain it without the need to shoot it.
Earlier this morning, officers confirmed they have sight of the wolf and are working with staff from the sanctuary to detain it.
Local schools have kept children indoors and members of the public have been told not to approach the animal if they see it.
The animal is said to have escaped from the sanctuary, pictured in a file photo, this morning
The Trust has so far declined to comment on how it escaped, but locals say winds brought down a fence overnight
Tony Roe, who lives near the wolf sanctuary, first learned of the escape when taking his son to Beenham Primary School at about 8.25am.
The 53-year-old, who runs Theale-based Tony Roe Solicitors, said: ‘We got to the school gate and a police officer was standing outside. I asked if something was happening and she said a fence had blown down at the sanctuary and a wolf had escaped.
‘She was making sure the children got into school safely and the gate was secure.
‘About five minutes later I saw a police car with blue flashing lights heading towards the sanctuary. It was very windy – about 30 or 40 mph. It woke me up in the night.’
The trust keeps the animals in enclosures on this estate in Beenham, near Reading, Berkshire
Sian Champkin, whose husband works at Elstree Independent Boys Preparatory School in nearby Woolhampton, said the pupils have been told not to go outside.
Speaking to the Press Association, the 37-year-old said: ‘He phoned me to tell me about it because we have a child, a dog and a cat and not to go outside.
‘The sanctuary is about a mile away as the crow flies. I was slightly shocked, nothing like this has ever happened before.’
The school declined to comment.
The late Roger Palmer founded The UK Wolf Conservation Trust with his wife Tsa in 1995 at Butlers Farm in Beenham and it is now celebrating more than 20 years of trying to help keep wolves in the wild.
Since its foundation, the not-for-profit trust in West Berkshire has donated £251,000 to global projects.
Elstree Independent Boys Preparatory School, which is less than a mile from the sanctuary has reportedly told pupils not to go outside
Over the past 20 years, it has raised 18 ‘ambassador’ wolves, delivered the birth of the first European wolf in the UK since they were wiped out in 1743 and in 2011 imported the first ever Arctic wolves to the UK.
Over this time, the trust has welcomed more than 10,000 visitors a year and given work experience and career opportunities to more than 1,800 young people.
In 2015, Mrs Palmer, who continued to run the trust since her husband’s death in 2004, said: ‘Wolves have gained a negative reputation across Europe, often fuelled by fairy tales, myths and legends but without top predators such as the wolf, whole ecosystems become out of balance, which affects the entire food chain.
‘Wolves aren’t the evil fairy tale characters many people portray them as, but are vital to Europe having and retaining its biodiversity.’