‘Neukgu’, the wolf that escaped from Daejeon O-World, is seen resting in the mountains in drone footage captured by search authorities on the 14th. Daejeon City SNS screenshot

‘Neukgu’, the wolf that escaped from the Daejeon O-World Zoo, was spotted by search authorities after five days, but the failure to capture it has pushed the search operation past the one-week mark.

According to the Daejeon Metropolitan Government and the Daejeon Fire Headquarters on the 15th, a nighttime search was conducted using drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras to find Neukgu, but there were no notable results. Two citizen reports saying ‘I think I saw Neukgu’ were received at night, but Neukgu was not confirmed at the reported locations.

Neukgu, which escaped from the wolf safari inside the O-World Zoo on the 8th, was last captured on a thermal camera at about 1:30 a.m. the following day and then disappeared. Then, at about 10:45 p.m. on the 13th, it was captured in videos filmed by citizens in the Guwan-dong area of Jung District, about 2㎞ from O-World, and, after reports were made, was sighted by search authorities through the early hours of the next day.

In the early morning of the 14th, while Neukgu briefly fell asleep in the mountains, the authorities cautiously attempted a capture, but it woke and fled; around 6 a.m. after daybreak, they also fired one tranquilizer dart, which missed, resulting in a failed capture. Since then, Neukgu has again slipped through the search and capture net, its location unconfirmed, and the operation is taking on a longer-term outlook beyond a week.

Regarding the failed capture the previous day, the search authorities explained, “To take it alive without killing, a tranquilizer gun must be used or it must be caught in a trap, but a tranquilizer gun can only be fired at a close range of 20~30m,” adding, “At the moment Neukgu came within firing range, it moved out of sight, then scaled and crossed a 3~4m-high wall near the adjacent highway or jumped over a 2m retaining wall by the water and fled.”

The authorities are continuing on-site searches using drones today as well to confirm Neukgu's location. Choi Hyun-myeong, a professor in the Department of Animal Health and Welfare at Cheongju University, said, “Neukgu is circling an area about 2㎞ in a straight line from the zoo, appears to be drinking water, and seems to be filling an empty stomach with carcasses of wild animals,” adding, “It still has strength for now, but activity becomes more difficult as the terrain rises, so if there is no prey, it will have no choice but to move to low-lying farms around the mountains.”