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Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo officials are still investigating how a cheetah named Gretchen managed to escape her enclosure at the beginning this month.

She got out of her main enclosure and roamed around the area in between the perimeter fence and public barrier. Emergency protocols were immediately activated. Luckily, keepers were able to successfully guide Gretchen back into her enclosure without further complications.

Abandoned alligator rescued from New York City lake likely dumped there as an unwanted pet. The gator appeared lethargic and possibly cold shocked. Releasing animals in city parks is illegal. Police are investigating.

A 6-year-old Masai giraffe named Parker has died at the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester, New York. Animal Care Staff discovered Parker unresponsive, caught in a support structure for the giraffe enclosure gate.

According to Zoo Superintendent Steve Lacy, “The gate structure, installed in 2018, is a standard giraffe enclosure feature and is used in a number of accredited zoos around the country.”

An emu that escaped her enclosure at a private residence in Massachusetts led her owner and police on a chase through Brockton before she was captured. Her owner thinks a wild animal likely caused Mallory to jump over her six-foot fence. According to her owner, she was “terrified.”

An Andean bear named Ben escaped his enclosure at the Saint Louis Zoo this week. According to Billy Brennan, a zoo spokesman, the incident occurred outside operating hours and was resolved before the zoo opened to the public.

Ben escaped by manipulating the steel mash surrounding his outdoor habitat, which caused a cable to give way and allowed him to make his way out.

Luckily, zoo staff were able to tranquilize Ben and safely return him to his enclosure before more permanent and lethal alternative methods were used to protect the public safety of the zoo staff and surrounding community. During dangerous wild animal incidents, this is rarely the outcome.

Police in Phoenix, Arizona, confiscated a tiger cub after a man was found trying to sell the cub online via social media platforms. Police went undercover to investigate and also found baby snapping turtles and a baby American alligator in a small aquarium. The police discovered the tiger cub in the man’s residence, growling in a small cage the size of a dog kennel.

UPDATE: In Albuquerque, New Mexico, a federal search warrant indicates that a tiger cub named Duke found last month may have been part of a larger illegal exotic animal smuggling operation. In early January, authorities found the tiger at a trailer when police were investigating a shooting.

In the two homes searched, authorities discovered two tiger cubs, a capuchin monkey, and a crocodile; evidence of numerous other exotic animals having been there; and guns, drugs, and money. The animals were allegedly obtained from a contact in Mexico. The search warrant states that the smuggler was hoping to sell the animals for double to triple what he paid for them, and that he arranged for the tiger found in January to be sent to New York for drugs and money.

The Dallas Zoo closed and issued a ‘code blue’ for a missing clouded leopard. Zoo officials believe that the leopard is hiding onsite.

While officials described the escape as “a serious situation,” they added that the Dallas Police Department is assisting in their efforts to find the leopard, named Nova, who was not in her enclosure when staff arrived earlier this morning.

UPDATE: Investigating officials later discovered that the Dallas Zoo enclosure of the escaped clouded leopard was “intentionally” cut, and a similar hole was also found in a langur enclosure. Investigators are unsure if the two incidents are connected, police disclosed. A criminal investigation is ongoing.