Zvole, Central Bohemia, July 31 (CTK) – A cougar cub escaped from a small zoo near Prague Sunday night because somebody damaged the cage of the seven-month-old cougar during the night, the zoo’s head Tomas Machac told CTK on Monday.
“Our neighbour saw the cougar outside when she walked her dog. The cougar ran away because it is afraid,” he said, adding that they were looking for the cub named Izzy who was probably hidden somewhere in the bushes.
Prague Zoo spokesman Alena Steffelova said a cougar should be able to survive in the wild once it is able to hunt.
She said the landscape around Zvole is similar to the North American environment where cougars live. A cougar can hunt hares and deer does, she added.
In 2016, the Czech veterinarian authority dealt with the case of a porcupine escaping from the Zvole zoo. The zoo’s owner was fined after the escaped porcupine was caught.
Zvole Mayor Miroslav Stoklasa said the small zoo had the licence to rear exotic animals, but the hutches and sheds were built illegally in it, including the cougar’s cage.
