Eight animals have now died after a jaguar escaped from its habitat at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
The male jaguar, Valerio, escaped around 7.20am Saturday and was captured and returned to its night house after being sedated by a vet team nearly an hour later.
But in that short time, it attacked several animals, leaving four alpacas, one emu and one fox dead. On Sunday, two further creatures, an alpaca and fox died from their injuries.
No people were hurt and the zoo was reopened Sunday.
The killings appeared to stem from territorial disputes, according to CBS News.
The male jaguar, Valerio, escaped around 7.20am and was captured and returned to its night house after being sedated by a vet team nearly an hour later
Audubon Zoo houses over 2,000 animals on its 58-acre property and has been in operation for over 100 years
The zoo acquired the alpacas in March from farms in Alabama and Mississippi. The alpaca that died overnight Sunday was the zoo’s last living alpaca.
‘In over a 100-year period, we’ve never had any incident like this,’ said the president and CEO of Audubon Nature Institute, Ron Forman, at press conference.
President and CEO of Audubon Nature Institute, Ron Forman (pictured) said the zoo will investigate the incident, including how the jaguar got free
One injured fox continues to be monitored.
It’s not immediately clear how the animal escaped.
Zoo officials say inspections found that the roof was ‘compromised,’ but initial findings concluded that keeper error was not a factor.
‘We receive inspections a few times a year from Association of Zoos and Aquariums since 1981,’ Forman said. ‘This is by far the biggest tragedy we’ve had.’
Audubon Zoo houses over 2,000 animals on its 58-acre property and has been in operation for over 100 years.
Joel Hamilton, vice president and general curator at the zoo, said the three-year-old jaguar will not be euthanized.
‘Nothing’s going to happen to the jaguar itself,’ he said. ‘Unfortunately, it was doing what jaguars do.’
‘We are looking to investigate everything that happened and to prevent anything like this from ever happening again,’ said Forman.
Burks said the zoo will investigate the incident, including how the jaguar got free.
‘The animal care team is devastated by this tragic loss,’ the zoo said in a statement. ‘Today is a difficult day for the Audubon family.’
This is not the first time a jaguar has escaped its enclosure at Audubon.
In 2001, a 70-pound cub named Mulac got loose for about 10 minutes before he was brought down with a tranquilizer dart. No animals or humans were injured in that escape.
Frank Burks, the zoo’s chief doctor, said an additional three animals are being treated for injuries