"The escaped leopard was entrusted to us by the BKSDA (Natural Resources Conservation Agency). It is three years old and was rescued from Kuningan," the zoo’s public relations officer, Miftah Setiawan, stated here.
The leopard was rescued from Kutamandarakan Village in Maleber Sub-district, Kuningan District, he said, adding that it was evacuated to Lembang Park and Zoo on Tuesday (August 26) for a three-day observation and quarantine.
However, on the third day, the leopard broke through the cage and escaped. According to Setiawan, the animal was last seen inside its enclosure at 4:30 a.m. before escaping around 5:30 a.m. local time.
"We suspect the leopard was stressed from having to adapt to a new environment, which caused it to break the upper part of its quarantine cage and escape," he explained.
The leopard was scheduled to undergo its final observation on Thursday before being released back into Mount Ciremai forest in Kuningan District.
"As part of the release process, we were conducting observation and assessment at the zoo. However, the leopard became stressed and broke free," Setiawan added.
Meanwhile, West Java BKSDA Head Agus Arianto noted that Lembang Park and Zoo had been chosen for the observation due to its adequate facilities and veterinarians.
"The leopard was initially planned to be placed at the Cikembulan Conservation facility in Garut District, but due to a lack of facilities, we relocated it to Lembang," Arianto explained.
As of Thursday afternoon, police and conservation officers were still searching for the missing leopard.
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Translator: Rubby Jovan, Nabil Ihsan
Editor: M Razi Rahman
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