- Vandals cut zoo enclosures, Bobcat, raccoon briefly escape New Mexico zoo
Published by NAWA News Feed in -Zoo News- · Wednesday 10 Jul 2019
Bobcat, raccoon briefly escape New Mexico zoo
after vandals cut open enclosures, police say
New Mexico police are searching for vandals who cut locks and made holes in zoo enclosures over the weekend, allowing four animals, including a bobcat, to escape before they were quickly wrangled nearby.
A visitor at the Spring River Park and Zoo in Roswell first alerted zookeepers to an apparent opening cut into fencing at the red-tailed hawk exhibit Sunday, police said in a news release. Staff evacuated the estimated 15 to 20 visitors and discovered four more vandalized exhibits.
A raccoon, two raccoon-like coatimundis and a bobcat had escaped their enclosures, according to police. The four animals were found within 20 minutes in “keeper areas” not accessible to the public.
Staffers believe only the raccoon, which was hiding from zookeepers, might have temporarily strayed into a visitor area. READ MORE
