A major operation has been launched after a lynx escaped from Dartmoor Zoo.
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Initial hopes that the runaway cat would be discovered inside the zoo’s perimeter fence were dashed after a search by staff and police found no sign of the animal. Police have visited two local schools to reassure them and make sure pupils are inside.
Police have called in a helicopter to search for the wild cat and are urging members of the public to call an emergency helpline if they spot the free feline.
“The preferred hunting technique is to stalk and pounce on prey utilising the dense cover of their preferred forested habitats, ambush hunting is occasionally used as well”, the website states.
“We are fortunate that we are in a rural location”, said Mr Hyde, “so in that respect the likelihood of him coming into contact with people is very slim”.
Another said: “Dartmoor Zoo – every day life gets more exciting”.
The male lynx broke free from Dartmoor Zoo in Devon by digging himself out of his enclosure, according to a zoo spokesman.
He said the zoo was prepared for such situations and reassured the public that the risk from the animal was “very, very low”.
Later on Thursday, a zoo spokesman assured reporters the lynx was “nowhere near as big as a tiger or a lion”.
A search party immediately set out and local radio and police were alerted at 10.20am. He said: ‘This is a small Carpathian lynx, and it will totally be more afraid of people than we are of it, though of course it’s impossible to guarantee that.
Police have moved to reassure the public that shooting Flaviu the Caparthian Lynx would be “a last resort”.
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Humane traps have been laid in the area, which are designed not to hurt the animal, who was bred in captivity. Efforts are underway to capture him safely and unhurt.
