Ollie the escaped bobcat. (Photo by Janice Sveda for Smithsonian’s National Zoo)

Update 4:40: Ollie has been found!

Original:

After scouring Cleveland Park and Woodley Park for two days, the National Zoo is suspending its search for Ollie, an escaped bobcat.

“As you can imagine, finding a single cat in an environment like this can be very, very difficult,” says Craig Saffoe, the curator of great cats. “I don’t mean to be pessimistic at all, but we’re looking for a cat who could literally be sitting in a tree right next to us.”

Staffoe said his nine-member team of keepers must focus on the menagerie of other large cats in their care rather than searching for the crepuscular creature at dawn and dusk.

But while zookeepers won’t be actively canvassing the streets, they haven’t entirely given up all hope of Ollie’s return. The door is open to her food-filled enclosure, which is also surrounded by traps, and keepers will still respond to credible sightings in neighborhoods around the zoo.

The most recent one was last night around 10 p.m. last night, under a car on Massachusetts Avenue NW. Though keepers looked around for nearly an hour, they weren’t able to catch sight of Ollie.

In the event that they do, Saffoe said that it would be most ideal to capture her using a net, but that “chemical immobilization” is their best chance at success—and they don’t want to lose what may be a single opportunity.

Ollie is spayed and up-to-date on all her vaccines. Zoo officials repeatedly stressed that she is of no danger to humans, and area schools have resumed outdoor recess and other activities.

“Think of her like a stray dog, not a danger to you but definitely not an animal that you would want to approach,” said Dr. Brandi Smith, the associate director of animal care sciences at the National Zoo.

One of the main reasons they advise people to keep their distance is so keepers have a chance at capturing Ollie. “We’re going to really rely on luck to be able to get there and see it. Don’t try to approach her, not because we think you’re going to get hurt or mauled, but because she’s likely to run away from you,” Saffoe says, advising people to call the zoo (202-633-7362) and try to keep her in sight.

At 25-pounds, Ollie is larger than a typical housecat, but at night or from far away, it could be difficult to ID her. One defining feature, notes great cats keeper Rebecca Sites, is her short or “bob” tail.

Zoo officials say that that the adept climber seems to have escaped through a 5-inch opening in the mesh net around her habitat, which she normally shares with two male bobcats. The remaining bobcats have been moved and are currently off-display, likely for several weeks.

“With a living collection, things happen, but we do take incidents like this very seriously,” Smith tells DCist. “She’s in her natural environment, of no danger to humans, and we expect her to thrive. So we take some comfort in that.”

According to Saffoe, “Rock Creek [Park] is a phenomenal environment for a bobcat.”