Jaguar scaled walls to escape enclosure at Texas zoo


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ABILENE, Texas (AP) — Officials at a West Texas zoo say a jaguar scaled a 12-foot-tall artificial rock wall and forced her way under netting that topped her enclosure to escape the exhibit last week.

Officials at the Abilene Zoo said Wednesday that the jaguar named Estrella then scaled an adjacent cinderblock wall and forced her way through an 8-inch gap to access the rest of the zoo.

Once free of her enclosure, Estrella climbed a nearby exhibit housing spider monkeys, fatally injuring one.

Zoo staff found her May 15 lounging atop the monkeys' exhibit. The 120-lb. (54 kilograms) jaguar was shot with a sedation dart and taken to a holding pen.

Estrella was found before the zoo opened for the day and officials say she was never a threat to the public.

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