Lockdown Lifted at Indiana Zoo After Cheetah Escapes

Zoo staff found and tranquilized the cheetah after it escaped its enclosure Sunday morning

A cheetah that escaped from an enclosure at the Indianapolis Zoo Sunday forced an hour-long lockdown of zoo guests before staff found and tranquilized the animal.

Pounce, a 4-year-old male cheetah, slipped out of his enclosure into a landscaped area of tall grass and trees behind a barrier fence between the exhibit and public space, Zoo spokeswoman Judy Palermo said in a news release. 

Visitors to the zoo, located just west of downtown Indianapolis, were told to seek shelter and moved to safety. 

The emergency response team's veterinarian found Pounce laying in the high grass and was able to dart and sedate him. The cheetah jumped back down into his enclosure and was unconscious for three minutes.

Pounce and his brother Zephyr, 4, joined the Indianapolis Zoo's Cheetah: Race for Survival exhibit in July from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

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Four-year-old brothers Pounce, left, and Zephyr, right came to the Indianapolis Zoo in July from the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.

Palermo says the cheetah never left the zoo's grounds and the lockdown was lifted about an hour later. No zoo guests or staffers were injured during the incident, she added.

"The incident is currently under investigation. The safety of guests, staff and animals is the number one priority at the Indianapolis Zoo," Palermo said, adding that the exhibit, which opened in 2010, "will remain closed and the cheetahs will stay indoors until the Zoo is certain the issues that led to this incident have been resolved."

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