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Official: No guests, animals hurt after bobcat's brief weekend escape from Lufkin zoo habitat

Gordon Henley, Ellen Trout Zoo director, said the bobcat was not far away from its exhibit and workers were able to get the animal back into custody fairly soon.

LUFKIN, Texas — Ellen Trout Zoo crews in Lufkin were able to quickly catch a bobcat that escaped from its habitat Saturday and resume operations the next day without any injuries to animals or people. 

Gordon Henley, Ellen Trout Zoo director, said the incident happened around 3:15 p.m. Saturday when the bobcat was in its night quarters, where the animal was able to walk around in a runway area. 

The bobcat was able to break out of the runway that's made out of wire. Members of the zoo crew responded quickly and the guests were evacuated, Henley said.  

He said the bobcat was not far away from its exhibit and workers were able to get the animal back into custody fairly soon.

On Sunday, the zoo team worked to replace the material that the bobcat broke so a similar incident wouldn't happen again, he added. 

"I think we dealt with it as best we could," Henley said. "Nobody was hurt and the animal wasn't hurt."

Henley said the zoo returned to normal operations starting on Sunday.

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