SAN DIEGO (NEWS 8) — A jaguar went on a killing rampage at a Louisiana zoo on Saturday, but he was born here at the San Diego Zoo. Valerio spent two years in San Diego before being moved to the Audubon Zoo in New Orleans.
That's where he got out of his habitat Saturday morning and attacked several animals; as of Monday morning, nine of the animals were dead.
The Audubon Zoo released the following statement:
We are sad to announce that Rusty, our fox who was being treated by veterinarians following the attack by our male jaguar, became critical last evening and despite best efforts, passed away this morning. The outpouring of community support is helping our staff through this devastating time, especially those who care for our animals. A memorial has been started in the front of the Zoo by caring members of the community. We encourage those who want to share their sympathies with our animal care team to leave a note at the memorial or share a message on the Zoo's Facebook page. Thank you for helping our team heal during this tragedy.
The zoo reopened Sunday - a day after the jaguar got out.
Zoo officials say three-year-old Valerio likely escaped through a compromised roof but added zookeeper error wasn't to blame.
"We take this situation very seriously and are working to investigate everything that happened to prevent it from happening again," said Dr. Kyle Burks of the Audobon Zoo.
Valerio was born in March of 2015 at the San Diego Safari Park's "Jaguar Den." The zoo posted pictures and video of him on social media in the year that followed.
He was the third cub for his mother Nindiri.
Video of Nindiri and Valerio in 2015:
Click here to view on YouTube.
In May of that year, zookeepers asked the public to choose one of seven suggested names for him.
The zoo says more than 7,000 people selected "Valerio" - which means powerful, strong and healthy.
He continued to live in San Diego until October of last year. That's when he was moved to the zoo in New Orleans.
"The zoo is a safe place to be," said Ron Forman of the Audobon Nature Institute. "In a 100-year period there's never been an incident that created a problem for the public."
In the wild, jaguars typically live alone and can consider mile-wide areas as their territory.
Zoo officials believe Valerio was defending his territory when he killed the five alpacas, now three foxes and an emu.
"He's a young male jaguar. He was doing what jaguars do," said Joel Hamilton, also with the zoo. "His behavior wasn't out of the ordinary for that kind of an animal. He's a normal jaguar as far as we're concerned."
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