A Canadian grey wolf escaped from the Night Safari Zoo about one month ago and has reportedly killed 200 chickens, five dogs and some ducks in the villages of Ban Pong Noi, Ban Ramperng and Ban Sanlomjoi.

Villagers have been hunting the wolf at night since Wednesday. A team of 50 zookeepers, armed with four anaesthetic guns and a cage, has been seeking the wolf during the day since Friday, led by zoo project director Plodprasop Suraswadi.

The last sighting of the animal was in Ban Sanlomjoi in Muang district's Mae Hia area.

"The wolf seems to know it is being hunted and runs off immediately when it sees humans," said village headwoman Phornthip Uttama.

"We are hunting it to ensure the safety of our villagers, not for the Bt10,000 reward on offer from the zoo.

"We will try our best to not kill the wolf if we find it. We will shoot it with a tranquilliser dart and take it to the zoo."

Zoo officials believe the wolf is hiding not far from the zoo and are confident of catching it soon.

On Friday night the wolf killed three chicks and one puppy belonging to villager Ploy Chaiyanta. The zoo agreed to pay compensation.

Originally it was claimed that two hyenas had escaped from the zoo, but this was denied by officials, who said the wolf had been the only animal to escape. They said it had been bred in captivity in the Czech Republic and was not dangerous to humans.

Ekaphong Praditwong

The Nation

Chiang Mai