Pack of nine wolves escapes from French zoo

Pack of nine wolves escapes from French zoo

L. David Mech, Bruce W. Christensen, Cheryl S. Asa , Margaret Callahan, Julie K. Young, CC BY-SA 3.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

A pack of nine wolves escaped from their enclosure in a French zoo after destroying the padlocks with their teeth.

Local authorities had to temporarily close a French zoo after a pack of nine wolves escaped from their enclosure during visiting hours.

There were no injuries during the incident, which took place at the Trois Vallées zoo in the region of Montredon-Labessonnié, in the south of France.

The wolves destroyed the padlocks with their teeth and climbed the fence of their enclosure, managing to get into other areas of the zoo. The authorities killed four of the animals due to “dangerous behaviour”, according to a local official, Fabien Chollet.

The five remaining wolves were sedated and returned to their cage.

“There weren’t too many people at the zoo at that time, and no members of the public were in any immediate danger,” explained Chollet. However, he also added that the zoo would remain closed until certain safety issues have been resolved.

On their website, the zoo announced that it would not open until mid-January due to “urgent refurbishment”.

The owner of the zoo, Sauveur Ferrara, stated that the wolves had arrived at the zoo recently and that the members of the public who suffered stress due to the incident were evacuated rapidly.

With an area of 60 hectares, the zoo houses more than 600 animals, including lions, monkeys and flamingoes. It is not the first time that it has been ordered to close: last year, Barbara Pompili, the French Minister of the Ecological Transition, ordered the zoo to close due to concerns about the animals’ living conditions and the safety of the employees.

However, the decision was revoked by a court and the zoo was allowed to keep its animals.

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Written by

Tamsin Brown

Originally from London, Tamsin is based in Malaga and is a local reporter for the Euro Weekly News covering Spanish and international news. Got a news story you want to share? Then get in touch at editorial@euroweeklynews.com.

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