soft lead

Soon after the Durham zoo opened this morning, visitors were forcibly removed from the zoo while chaos erupted inside.
Police officers and zoo workers took out their high-powered rifles or their pistols in a search for a dangerous spotted leopard said to be missing from her cage. The search covered the whole zoo, from behind buildings, to inside trash cans and the cotton candy concession.
The police department called in the New Hampshire State Police, the state Wildlife Department, and the National Guard to help with the search.
This panic took place after zookeepers couldn’t find Fluffy, the zoo’s spotted leopard, this morning when the park opened. Since Fluffy could be dangerous, zoo workers and the police department worked hard to find her as soon as possible.
“We are searching the grounds of the zoo, but so far we haven’t a clue,” said Gerry Durrell, the director of the zoo. “She may have left the area and she could be walking around Durham at this point.
Later this afternoon, a zoo worker found that Fluffy had not left her cage at all, but was sleeping soundly under a pile of hay.