By Canadian Press

Wolf found dead by roadside, another missing after B.C. zoo escape

Aug 18, 2022 | 4:31 PM

ALDERGROVE — The Greater Vancouver Zoo says one of the wolves that escaped their enclosure this week has been found dead on a roadside, and a second wolf is still missing.

The zoo in Aldergrove, B.C., has been shut for three days while workers and conservation officers searched for the wolves, which Langley RCMP suspect got loose when someone deliberately damaged the animals’ enclosure.

The zoo’s deputy general manager Menita Prasad said both the grey wolf enclosure and the zoo’s perimeter fence had been deliberately “compromised” early Tuesday, allowing the escape.

Prasad tearfully told a news conference Thursday that searchers were “heartbroken” to find a three-year-old female wolf called Chia dead by the side of 264 Street in Aldergrove.

She said a one-year-old female wolf named Tempest is still missing, but is believed to be in the vicinity of the zoo.

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Prasad said Tempest is a “shy wolf” and poses no threat to public safety, but urges anyone who sees the animal not to approach her and instead call authorities to report the location.

Langley RCMP said Wednesday they are investigating the incident as a suspected case of unlawful entry and vandalism.

“As a result of this senseless act, our wolf pack has lost two family members,” Prasad said Thursday. “We watched these wolves grow up. We consider the animals at the zoo a part of our family.”

Chia was listed by the zoo’s website as the oldest member of its pack of nine wolves and six cubs. 

Prasad said Tempest was born last year at the zoo.

She said the “search and rescue operation” would continue and is asking for the public’s help “to reunite Tempest with her family.”

“She is a small wolf with grey brown puppy fur and white markings on her muzzle and her brow,” Prasad said.

Anyone who spots Tempest is asked contact the Greater Vancouver Zoo, Langley RCMP or the BC Conservation Officer Service by calling 1-877-952-7277.

The zoo, which is about 55 kilometres outside Vancouver, will reopen on Saturday, Prasad said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 18, 2022.

The Canadian Press