Wolf Escapes Daejeon Zoo, 300+ Personnel in Search

A two-year-old male wolf named Neukgu escaped from its enclosure at OWorld zoo in Daejeon, South Korea, on Wednesday morning, prompting a large-scale search involving more than 300 personnel and the closure of a nearby elementary school as authorities worked to recapture the animal without incident.

The roughly 30-kilogram Eurasian wolf, part of a program to restore the Korean wolf species considered extinct in the wild, slipped out around 9:15 a.m. by digging under an electrified fence in the zoo's safari area, according to zoo officials. Staff discovered the breach during a pre-opening headcount via CCTV footage and alerted authorities about 50 minutes later. OWorld, a city-operated theme park combining amusement rides and animal exhibits in Daejeon's Jung District, immediately evacuated visitors, suspended operations through at least Thursday, and restricted access to the site.

Search efforts, coordinated by Daejeon city officials, police, firefighters, military units, and hunters, intensified on Friday, the third day of the operation. Teams divided the forested hills and wooded areas around the zoo and nearby Bomun Mountain into five sectors, forming human chains along...