The entire country watched the process of his capture. Hoping for his return, the zoo broadcasts wolf howls and announcements for the audience, which the wolf had been used to since childhood.
At the O-World Zoo in Daejeon, South Korea, a wolf named Nikku managed to escape by digging a tunnel under a fence. Almost the whole country followed his search. And in the zoo, the howls of wolves and announcements for the audience were broadcast, which Nikku had been used to since he was a child.
After nine days, the fugitive finally found.
Nikku is a Korean wolf that is thought to be almost extinct in the wild in South Korea.
One of the missions of the O-World Zoo in Daejeon is to restore the Korean wolf population. For this, in 2008, seven wolves were brought to Tejon from the Saratov region of Russia. Nikku is a descendant of one of these wolves. He was born at the zoo in January 2024 and lived until April 8, 2026. On this day, the wolf dug a tunnel under the fence and ran away. The zoo is closed and the search for Nikku begins.
Animal rights activists were concerned that the wolf would not survive in the wild or would be killed if they tried to capture it: in 2018, an 8-year-old cougar from the same park escaped to Poron and was shot dead by police.
Search for a fugitive
More than 300 policemen, rangers and soldiers were involved in the search for the wolf. Local residents tried to help them, but all their efforts were unsuccessful. Often times, dogs were likened to a runaway wolf.
The day after his escape, Nikku was spotted on thermal cameras near the zoo. But while the search team was replacing the battery in the drone’s camera, he lost track again.
The situation became more complicated, because the wolf could only be seen in the thermal imager at night due to the warming of the air. To attract Nikku, the O-World park began playing wolf howls and announcements for the audience – which the wolf grew up listening to.
On April 13, new evidence appeared: a video was posted on social networks showing a wolf running on the road in the light of car headlights. But this time he could not be caught.
Even South Korean President Lee Hye-myung commented on the situation. “I sincerely hope that there are no casualties and I wish Nikku a safe return,” he wrote on social media.
Soothing drotic and return to the zoo
Finally, on the evening of April 16, after reports of a wolf sighting near the highway, a search and rescue team began preparing for an operation to capture the fugitive. At night they prepared sleeping tranquilizers. At midnight a shot was fired and Nikku was captured.
The wolf was taken to the zoo, where veterinarians examined him: pulse and breathing were normal, but when Nikku was X-rayed, it was found that he had a fishing hook in his stomach.
As a precaution, the hook was removed using endoscopy and the wolf is now being rehabilitated at O-World Zoo. He is kept separately from other animals until he fully recovers.
