Jaguar escapes habitat at New Orleans zoo, kills 6 animals
NEW ORLEANS — A jaguar escaped from its habitat at the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans and killed six animals.
The male jaguar escaped around 7:20 a.m. Saturday and was captured and returned to its night house after being sedated by a vet team nearly an hour later, after it had mauled four alpacas, one emu and one fox.
No people were hurt.
News outlets report the zoo was closed Saturday and would reopen Sunday.
It was not immediately clear how the animal escaped. An investigation is underway.
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.
