Authorities in Daejeon, South Korea, are actively searching for a wolf that escaped from a local zoo. The city, which has a population of approximately 1.5 million residents, is currently mobilizing a significant search effort.

More than 300 individuals, including firefighters, law enforcement officers, and military personnel, are engaged in the ongoing search, according to an official from the Daejeon fire department.

Local news outlets have released images depicting the wolf wandering along a roadway. The animal, a male weighing around 30 kilograms and born in 2024, fled from the O-World theme park zoo on Wednesday, prompting extensive search activities in the nearby regions.

As of Thursday, the wolf remains at large, leading authorities to close a nearby school as a precaution. A spokesperson for the Daejeon metropolitan office of education confirmed the closure of Sanseong elementary school due to the incident.

The fire department representative noted that while drones equipped with cameras were utilized in the search, they had to be withdrawn because of adverse weather conditions.

An official from O-World stated, “We carry out daily inspections of all animal enclosures before opening. One wolf was found to be missing. After reviewing the CCTV footage, we determined that it had escaped by digging through the soil at the base of its enclosure.”

This incident follows a similar event earlier in 2023 when a male zebra named Sero gained international attention after escaping from a zoo in Seoul and was spotted roaming city streets. Sero was ultimately located in a narrow alley, tranquilized safely, and returned to its enclosure without sustaining any injuries.