A rare and endangered vulture died in its enclosure over the weekend in an "unusual" circumstance that police and zoo officials say "does not appear to be from natural causes." This comes days after a clouded leopard named Nova escaped from a hole in the netting that surrounded its enclosure, which police say was purposefully cut, as per a report in ABC.
The Dallas Zoo took to Twitter to share the heartbreaking news. They wrote, "This weekend, our staff found that one of the endangered vultures in our Wilds of Africa habitats had died. The animal care team is heartbroken over this tremendous loss. Please keep them in your thoughts as they process what has happened."
The zoo stated that in light of other suspicious incidents, they notified the Dallas Police Department, who are now investigating the circumstances surrounding the vulture's death.
They further added, "In the past week, we have added additional cameras throughout the Zoo and increased onsite security patrols during the overnight hours. We will continue to implement and expand our safety and security measures to whatever level necessary to keep our animals and staff safe."
The zoo also plans to offer a $10,000 (Rs 8 lakh) reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment.
According to Dallas Police, the male lappet-faced vulture's death is being investigated, and a necropsy will be performed on its body. At a press conference on Monday, Dallas Zoo CEO Gregg Hudson stated that the vulture was found injured but did not say whether the bird had been shot.
"We're going to continue to expand and implement whatever it takes for the safety and security measures of the animals, the staff and the people that live near the zoo," Mr Hudson said.
It is to be noted that another opening that seemed to have been cut on purpose was discovered in a langur monkey exhibit while the officials were checking how the leopard got away. Police opened a criminal mischief offence report even though none of the monkeys had managed to get out of their habitat.
