WATCH: Dallas Zoo closes due to employees, police search for escaped clouded leopard

Dallas Police are helping search the Dallas Zoo for a clouded leopard that apparently escaped its habitat Thursday night.

Dallas Zoo On Friday morning, the zoo is reported to be closed due to a serious situation – a blue code indicating that a non-dangerous animal is out of its habitat.

“One of our clouded leopards was not in its habitat when the team arrived this morning and its whereabouts are currently missing,” the zoo said in a statement Friday morning. “The zoo is closed today as our teams work to locate and restore the animal.”

The zoo said the name of the missing clouded leopard is Nova. She is one of two clouded leopard sisters brought to Dallas in 2021 from the Houston Zoo. according to our partners at The Dallas Morning News.

The paper reports that the animals are small compared to other types of cats, roughly the size of a medium-sized dog and weighing around 30 pounds.

The zoo said they believe Nova is still at the zoo and hiding. Clouded Leopard Habitat is located on Primate Place, in the northwest section of the zoo, just north of Clarendon Drive.

The zoo is closed while the animal is being hunted.

WHAT IS A CLOUDED LEOPARD?

According to the National Zoo of the Smithsonian Institution and the Institute of Conservation Biology, clouded leopards are found in Southeast Asia and are a vulnerable species. Male cats weigh up to 50 pounds, while females are smaller and weigh 25-35 pounds.

Cats have large paws, are very adept at climbing, and are one of the few animals that can climb upside down from trees.

Clouded leopards are not a “species” of leopard as their name suggests. This is a separate species of wild cats, like snow leopards and leopards, ”the Smithsonian Institution reports.

They are predominantly nocturnal, with an average life expectancy of 12-15 years.

Come back and update this article for the latest updates.