Rare, Dangerous Leopard Goes Missing From Durham Zoo

DURHAM, N.H. - Early this morning, officials of the Durham Zoo noticed that fluffy, the Zoo's very rare, 10-year-old female spotted leopard was missing from its cage. Fluffy is a Romanian spotted leopard and one of 5 in existance, which is why this creature is so important to the Zoo.
James Petronkis, a 36 year-old visitor of the Zoo made the discovery of the missing Leopard  at 7:30 a.m. and made two attempts to contact security of the Zoo, both of which went unresponded.

It was an hour and a half later that a search for Fluffy began when security finally went into Fluffy's house and saw that she was in fact not there.

"Police cars came from every direction and within minutes they were roughly pushing visitors to exits," said Petronkis. Petronkis was later forced to leave the zoo by security, but stayed to see large amounts of police and security in the search process.

Gerry Durrell, the director of the Zoo spoke at press conference that took place at 9 a.m. this morning and said that Fluffy was last seen in his cage when the Zoo closed at 9 p.m. last night.

"We have no idea what time Fluffy escaped or where she went," said Durrell. "She may have left the area and she could be walkiing around Durham at this point. We just don't know."

Before turning the press conference over to Kitty Smith, the zoo's chief biologist, Durrell said that officials are doing everything possible to find Fluffy and bring her back. Smith takes over talking to reporters about the significance of finiding Fluffy as soon as possible.

"Fluffy is extremely dangerous and these lleopards are driven to the brink of extinction in Romania because of their appetite for young children," said Smith.

Smith continues to mention that Fluffy is a sweet cat, whom has never harmed anyone, but they are cornered and feel threatened on a dark night, their defense mechanism tells them to kill quickly.

The Durham zoo said right before ending the press conference that New Hampshire State Police along with the state wildlife department are helping with the search of Fluffy. Additionally, the National Guard will be supplying five helicopters with infrared sensors.

Police Chief, William Blair outlined the search for Fluffy and emphasized the importance of finding Fluffy before children of this residential neighborhood are released from school.

"If we cannot find her in the zoo, we will begin searching the neighborhood, moving farther and farther away from the zoo," said Blair. "We have got to find her before 3 p.m. These cats are nearly impossible to find in the dark -- they can see everything."

Smith describes Fluffy for anyone that is to come in contact with her. She said Fluffy is black with white spots, weighs 146 pounds, and can run 60 miles per hour. "Fluffy is a wonderful, warm gentle cat... we miss her and want her back safe and sound," said smith.