Where's Fluffy?

A rare Romanian spotted leopard escaped from the Durham Zoo this morning, leaving police and zoo officials scrambling to find the lost cat.

            Pandemonium broke loose after it was discovered that Fluffy, the extremely rare leopard, was not in her cage. Zoo director Gerry Durell held a press conference as rescue efforts were already underway stating, “everything about her cage seemed normal.” Though efforts to locate the prized feline have continued throughout the morning, Durell went on to say, “We have no idea what time Fluffy escaped or where she went.

            Fluffy, who was given as a gift to the Durham Zoo from a zoo in Romania, is considered to be a priceless animal. The Romanian spotted leopard is on the brink of extinction with only five known in existence, with Fluffy being the only female. She was scheduled next month to be flown to China to mate with a male spotted leopard owned by the Chinese government in an effort to help keep the species from extinction.

            Though the animal is extremely rare the police are taking any action necessary to insure the safety of the people of Durham. In a statement Police Chief William Blair said, “We will search every inch of this zoo. If possible Fluffy will be shot with a tranquilizer gun. But, if necessary, we will shoot to kill.

            The police and zoo officials are working against the clock because according to Blair the leopard is “nearly impossible to find in the dark-they can see everything, and we are blind.” Also heightening the importance of finding Fluffy is the area surrounding the zoo.

            “We are concerned because this is a residential area with an elementary school and many daycare centers and we don’t want Fluffy wandering around after kids get out of school,” Blair went on to say. To help with the search, the National Guard has supplied five helicopters with infrared sensors to help locate the lost jungle cat.

            Kitty Smith, the zoo’s chief zoologist instructed everyone that if they encounter Fluffy to “get slowly to the ground, go limp and stay still. Avoid eye contact at all costs.”

            Fluffy, who weighs 146 pounds and can run speeds of up to 60 MPH will only hurt someone if she is “cornered-or encountered on a dark night or in a dark alley,” Smith later said.

            An initial uproar of Fluffy’s disappearance was caused by the pull of a fire alarm. James Petronkis, 36, of Newmarket visits Fluffy at the zoo everyday was immediately concerned about the cat’s absence from her cage. “I told the guard and he said ‘Mind your own business.’ I couldn’t believe it. So I pulled a fire alarm and that got their attention.”

            Even after he sounded the alarm, Petronkis said it took another half an hour until police believed him that Fluffy was missing. That is when the mayhem started, he says as “police cars came from every direction and within minutes they were roughly pushing visitors towards the exits. Cops with guns drawn were everywhere.”