![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/hairy-moments-as-escaped-wolf-returned-to-zoo-in-south-korea.jpg\")
There were celebrations across South Korea after Neukgu was found safe and well (Daejeon Municipality via AP)\n<\/p>\nSouth Koreans are celebrating after a two-year-old wolf that escaped from a zoo was captured safely after a nine-day search that kept the nation on edge.<\/p>\n
The male wolf, named Neukgu, burrowed out of his enclosure at the O-World zoo in Daejeon on April 8, prompting a search that gripped the nation and raised fears about his safety \u2013 and also made him something of a celebrity.<\/p>\n
Animal rights activists questioned whether the wolf could survive outside the zoo and also worried it might be killed during capture, something that happened to a puma that escaped from the same zoo in 2018.<\/p>\n
Intense national concern even prompted South Korean president Lee Jae Myung to make a statement reassuring the public that police, fire officials and the military were doing their best to capture the wolf alive.<\/p>\n
There were celebrations across South Korea after Neukgu was found safe and well (Daejeon Municipality via AP)\n<\/p>\n
At one point, authorities nearly captured Neukgu after spotting him on a mountain near the zoo earlier this week, but the animal broke away from a perimeter set by rescue workers.<\/p>\n
A driver also spotted the wolf and shared a video of him trotting along a dark mountain road, lit by the headlights of the vehicle trailing behind.<\/p>\n
Neukgu was finally found and tranquillized on a hill near an expressway early on Friday, after an hours-long search involving drones, police and emergency workers and veterinarians, according to city and zoo officials.<\/p>\n
The animal was in stable condition after being taken back to the zoo, where veterinarians used a scope to remove a fishing hook from his stomach, but found no other significant health issues.<\/p>\n
Daejeon officials released social media videos showing rescuers pulling the limp wolf from a ditch and placing it in a carrier, and the animal undergoing medical examinations at the zoo.<\/p>\n
Social media was flooded with celebratory posts, including messages like \u201cwelcome back\u201d and \u201cNeukgu, it\u2019s dangerous outside the house\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a Facebook post, Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo expressed his \u201cdeepest gratitude to citizens of Daejeon and also the entire nation for your support in ensuring Neukgu\u2019s safe return.\u201d<\/p>\n
Born at the zoo in 2024, Neukgu is a third-generation descendent of a group of wolves brought from Russia in 2008 as part of a project to reintroduce wolves resembling those that lived in the Korean wild before going extinct in the 1960s.<\/p>\n
Lee Kwan Jong, director of O-World, said Neukgu will be kept in a separate area from other animals and receive care until he has fully recovered and stabilised.<\/p>\n
The zoo\u2019s management, which has been criticised over a series of animal escapes, closed the facility following Neukgu\u2019s escape and says it has not decided when it will reopen.<\/p>\n
Lee Kwan Jong said the zoo, which is reviewing its security measures, will prioritise Neukgu\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n
The wolf is expected to be a huge attraction when the zoo reopens.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"South Koreans are celebrating after a two-year-old wolf that escaped from a zoo was captured safely after a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":403375,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[61,60,82,263],"class_list":{"0":"post-403374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403374\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/403375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}