Flashback: The great escape of Hogle Zoo's leopard
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Zeya, an amur leopard at Hogle Zoo, poses in the sun. Photo via Hogle Zoo
Seven years ago today, a leopard escaped in Hogle Zoo — a news event that ended with multiple TV crews shrieking and fleeing for their lives.
- But not because of the leopard.
I'm about to tell you about my most awesome day of news reporting in 20 years of journalism.
What drove the news: Early that Tuesday, a family spotted Zeya, an amur leopard, outside of her enclosure.
- She was lounging in the rafters of a nearby shade structure.
The family backed away and reported Zeya's escape to zoo staff, who herded guests into buildings while zookeepers tranquilized Zeya and took her indoors to sleep it off.
How it worked: Zeya is a peculiarly small leopard — 60 pounds — and zoo employees told reporters she squeezed through the enclosure's mesh ceiling.
- It was a 6-inch weave to prevent heavy snow from accumulating on top of it, so they moved Zaya to a more secure enclosure.
Threat level: But the excitement was not over. The leopard was contained, but the staff golf carts were still on the loose.
What happened: After media interviews, an employee offered to tow some of the news crews back to the parking lot in a trailer behind a cart.
- We zipped over the zoo's service roads until a railroad crossing arm started to lower ahead of us, with train tracks and a closed gate on the other side.
What the driver said: "I'm gonna go for it!"
The driver gunned it, hitting the crossing arm and ramming the gate.
- The gate did not open. We were stuck on the tracks. And that's when we heard a low whistle.
The Zoofari Express choo-choo train was bearing down on us.
- Shrieks rang out as TV crews grabbed their equipment — and we jumped out of the still-moving trailer.
- The driver kept ramming the locked gate while we yelled, "Get away! It's coming!"
Reality check: The Zoofari Express goes like 6 mph. As the train puttered to a stop, passengers peered around the conductor to see Salt Lake City's news media howling at a golf cart repeatedly crashing into a wall.
Our golf cart driver eventually snapped out of the panic and unlatched the gate, which we burst through, laughing and cussing, to a crowd of blanch-faced families.
The intrigue: We were at the Zoofari Express train depot.
- We realized the crowd had just heard a bunch of people screaming, "Get away! It's coming!" followed by desperate banging and shaking at the gate … right after a leopard escaped.
The latest: Zeya settled down and had cubs in 2017, 2018, 2020 and 2021. She’s a cool mom.
- In 2018, Mushu, a pallas cat, escaped and toured the Asian Highlands for two days before being caught.
- The half-dozen reporters on the trailer recovered from minor whiplash.
- The Zoofari Express closed in September after 53 years, to make room for a native animal exhibit in 2024.