LEOPARD AT LARGE IN LONDON

Evening Star, Issue 19788, 11 February 1928, Page 19

LEOPARD AT LARGE IN LONDON

ESCAPE AMD RECAPTURE 'An eight months old leopard escaped during the early hours of the morning recently from a cage in which it had been confined in a dealer s shop in Park stree_t, Camden Town, and its whereabouts were unknown till, about 5 o’clock in the afternoon, it was discovered in a backyard nearby and recaptured by its owner. V\ here the animal had spent the intervening time is unknown; it remained out of sight, baffling the efforts, of men who searched for it in the district, where the report of the escape caused some anxiety There was really no need for alarm, as the leopard was harmless when left alone. A young child was standing quietly beside it, wondering, no doubt, at the appearance of what seemed to be an unusually large cat in the backyard, when a woman caught sight of the unusual visitant and informed the owner. The leopard had been brought from Rotterdam to the dealer’s snop (occupied by Mr George Palmer) about 9 o’clock on the previous night. There it was placed in a strong wire cage, the door of which was secured by a latch opening from the outside. In a cOge immediately underneath was a very small bear, and all around were cages containing puppies, birds, and various other pets for sale. When the shop was closed at night, the hack door was left open for ventilation. How the leopard got out of the cage is unknown. A policeman on night duty informed one of the dealer’s assistants that he looked through the window about 1 o’clock in the morning and saw the animal in its cage. By some means, probably as a result of the animal’s movements in the confined space, the latch was raised, the door opened, and the leopard jumped on to the floor and passed through the open hack door of the shop into • the yard behind. The yard contains many boxes and cases, and it was an easy matter for the escaped prisoner to leap from these across the wall into adjoining premises. When Mr Palmer and his assistants arrived in the morning and discovered that tie leopard was gone they immediately organised a search in the district, and warnings were_ issued, especially to mothers to advise their children to beware of an animal which looked like a big cat. The police, who were notified at once, helped in the hunt, which was carried on in the backyards and outhouses within a considerable radius of the shops, and several volunteers joined in for the sake of a novel and exciting experience. The search, which was carried on for hours, proved fruitless. When, about 5 o’clock, the leopard was located, the owner hurried to the place; threw a bag over the animal’s head, and brought it back to captivity. Tired, apparently, by its wanderings, the leopard, fell asleep •without finishing the dish of bread and milk wheih had been set in a corner of the cago.