Authorities are hunting for a wolf after it escaped from a zoo in Daejeon, a South Korean city with a population of 1.5million.

More than 300 people – including firefighters, police and military personnel – are taking part in the search operation, an official from the Daejeon fire headquarters said.

Images released by local media showed it wandering in the middle of a road.

The male wolf – born in 2024 and weighing about 30kg – escaped from a zoo at O-World theme park in the city, which lies about 150km (93 miles) south of Seoul, on Wednesday, triggering a wide search in surrounding areas.

It remained at large Thursday, authorities said, with a nearby school closing for safety as the search continued.

“Daejeon Sanseong elementary school is closed today following the escape of a wolf from a zoo yesterday,” a spokesperson for the Daejeon metropolitan office of education told AFP.

Rescue workers prepare to capture a wolf that escaped from a zoo in Daejeon on April 8, 2026. Photograph: YONHAP/AFP/Getty Images

The fire official said they had deployed drones with cameras as part of the search but had to withdraw them because of rain.

The Korea Times quoted an O-World official as saying: “We conduct daily inspections of each enclosure before opening, and one wolf was missing. After checking CCTV, we confirmed it had dug through the soil at the bottom of the enclosure and escaped.”

In 2023, a male zebra became a global sensation after escaping from a zoo in Seoul and was seen roaming through the streets.

The zebra – named Sero – was eventually cornered in a narrow alley, safely tranquilised and returned to its enclosure without injury.