Missing bobcat found on National Zoo property

Female bobcat Ollie was found on National Zoo property Wednesday. (Courtesy National Zoo)

Animal care staff at the National Zoo were able to identify Ollie via a transponder chip. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo) — Animal care staff at the National Zoo were able to identify Ollie via a transponder chip. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, ) (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Ollie the bobcat was found on National Zoo property on Feb. 1, 2017 after disappearing earlier in the week. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo) — Ollie the bobcat was found on National Zoo property on Feb. 1, 2017 after disappearing earlier in the week. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, ) (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

The bobcat was found after a tip from a zoo visitor who claimed to have spotted Ollie. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo) — The bobcat was found after a tip from a zoo visitor who claimed to have spotted Ollie. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, ) (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

She is in good health with only a small cut on her left front paw that zoo keepers are letting heal naturally for now, said Brandie Smith, associate director for animal care sciences. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo) — She is in good health with only a small cut on her left front paw that zoo keepers are letting heal naturally for now, said Brandie Smith, associate director for animal care sciences. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, ) (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

Missing since Monday, Ollie 鈥� the 25-pound female bobcat 鈥� was located near the zoo鈥檚 bird exhibit Wednesday afternoon. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo) — Missing since Monday, Ollie 鈥� the 25-pound female bobcat 鈥� was located near the zoo鈥檚 bird exhibit Wednesday afternoon. (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, ) (Courtesy Amy Enchelmeyer, Smithsonian's National Zoo)

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WASHINGTON 鈥斅燭he bobcat that escaped from its National Zoo enclosure earlier this week was聽located Wednesday on zoo property.

Missing since Monday, Ollie 鈥� the 25-pound female bobcat 鈥� was located near the zoo’s bird exhibit Wednesday afternoon. She is in good health with only a small cut on her left front paw that zoo keepers are letting heal naturally for now, said聽Brandie Smith, associate director for animal care sciences, during a Wednesday evening news conference.

She was found after a tip from a zoo visitor who聽claimed to have spotted Ollie. Zoo staff set traps in the area, and about 15 minutes later, the bobcat was secured.

While the zoo isn’t sure how Ollie arrived at her final destination, National Zoo Curator of great cats Craig Saffoe said he believes she left her enclosure and went toward Rock Creek Park, following the creek before聽meandering back to her “home” — an approximate聽two-mile journey, he speculated.

Saffoe said he believes the Ollie sightings on Massachusetts Avenue probably were her and “she鈥檚 been coming back and forth coming that way.”

“The really important thing I think, and for our knowledge, is that she didn鈥檛 stray far away from home and she came right back home. She didn鈥檛 go too far, which is reassuring to us,鈥� Saffoe said of the staff’s concern that Ollie’s time away could be attributed to her desire to be free.

鈥淪he wanted to go out, have a little bit of fun and see what it was like on the outside,” he said.

Earlier Wednesday, the for the bobcat, adding that the zoo staff would still respond to any sightings that were called in. Zoo officials said they believed Ollie could survive on her own, especially if she made it to D.C.’s Rock Creek Park.

On Thursday, veterinarians will do a full check on Ollie to determine that she is fully health and doesn’t have any diseases that could be passed on to the other bobcats in the exhibit, Smith said.

There is no rush to reopen the bobcat exhibit that closed when Ollie went missing Monday, Smith said. Zoo staffers will continue to examine the exhibit to make sure a similar escape doesn’t happen again.

鈥淚t looks secure right now, so what can鈥檛 we see? How was she able to get through that mesh?” Smith asked. “Sometimes when you have a living collection … some things just go wrong sometimes, and so this is one of those instances where we are going to look at this and review it and make decisions and changes so this doesn鈥檛 happen again.鈥�

Watch the National Zoo’s update on Ollie’s return:聽