Police Investigate ‘Suspicious’ Death of a Vulture at Dallas Zoo

First, a clouded leopard at the Dallas Zoo went missing for several hours after “suspicious” tears had been found in its enclosure. Then, cuts were found in the fencing of a habitat of langur monkeys. Now, an endangered vulture has died at the zoo under what officials described as “unusual” circumstances.

The zoo said in a statement on Saturday that it had alerted the Dallas Police Department of the death of the vulture, which zoo officials discovered over the weekend in the park’s “Wilds of Africa” habitat.

“The animal care team is heartbroken over this tremendous loss,” the zoo said. “The circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes.”

The zoo did not provide additional details about the vulture’s death. It said that, over the past week, it had added cameras and increased overnight security.

“We will continue to implement and expand our safety and security measures to whatever level necessary to keep our animals and staff safe,” the zoo said.

The cause of the vulture’s death was unclear and a necropsy will be performed, a spokeswoman for the Dallas Police Department said on Sunday, adding that the death was “being investigated as suspicious.”

The investigation was ongoing, and it was unclear if there were any suspects.

The vulture’s death came a little more than a week after a clouded leopard named Nova went missing for several hours on Jan. 13. Nova’s disappearance prompted zoo officials to issue a “Code Blue” and to ask the police to help address what they described as a “serious situation.”

Zoo workers and the police searched for Nova, with officers using drones equipped with infrared capabilities to find the leopard. Nova was found that day unharmed and “very near the original habitat,” and then safely secured, the zoo said.

Sgt. Warren Mitchell of the Dallas Police Department said on Jan. 13 that crime scene investigators had determined that the tear in the mesh of Nova’s enclosure had been made intentionally.

The next day, the department said in a statement that, after the cut was found in the leopard’s enclosure, zoo workers showed investigators a similar tear in a habitat at the zoo for langur monkeys. The monkeys were found safe inside their habitat, the police said, adding that it was investigating the tear in the enclosure as a “criminal mischief offense.”

It was unclear whether the tears in the enclosures of the leopard and the monkeys were related, the police said.