GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) – City officials said the Greenville Zoo’s four-year-old Amur leopard escaped her exhibit on Thursday morning.
Officials said Irina the leopard left her enclosure and was loose within the zoo grounds around 8:42 a.m. Zoo staff and guests were evacuated as a precaution.
Greenville police and city staff responded and set up a perimeter around the zoo and in the Cleveland Park area.
At approximately 9:20, Greenville Zoo emergency response teams were able to successfully tranquilize Irina, officials said. After a precautionary second injection, she was taken back to the secured leopard den.
Officials mentioned that the zoo’s male leopard and two cubs are safe inside their exhibit.
The Greenville Zoo will remain closed while staff investigate, officials said.
Officials said Irina was two years old when she arrived to the Greenville Zoo from St. Louis in Oct. 2024. The now-first-time mother gave birth to her twin cubs on May 17, 2026.
Amur leopards are critically endangered, with fewer than 150 remaining in the wild.
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