Runaway wolf in South Korea missing for over 4 days has even the President worried

A wolf that escaped from a zoo in the South Korean city of Daejeon remains on the loose after more than four days, with authorities struggling to track it amid bad weather and a surge of false sightings.

President Lee Jae Myung weighed in ​on the social media platform X, urging authorities to ensure ‌a safe outcome.

"I hope no human casualties occur, and I pray that Neukgu also returns home safely," he wrote in a ⁠post on Thursday, which was reshared more than 1,400 times.

The two-year-old male wolf, named Neukgu, broke out of its enclosure at O-World around 9.15am on Wednesday by digging under a fence, zoo officials said. Born in January 2024 and weighing between 30kg and 35kg, the animal was discovered missing during a pre-opening inspection, with CCTV later confirming how it escaped.

Authorities launched a search the same morning, and deployed more than 300 personnel. Drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras were brought in for the search, but an official from the Daejeon fire headquarters told Agence France-Presse they “had to pull them back due to the ongoing rain”.

In the first 24 hours, Neukgu was detected multiple times in wooded hills near the zoo, including a confirmed sighting at about 1.30am on Thursday captured on the thermal imaging cameras, according to Chosun Biz. Authorities divided the surrounding area into five sectors, formed human perimeters and installed traps and baited cages.

However, the search has been complicated by worsening weather and a flood of inaccurate reports. Rain and fog limited visibility and disrupted aerial searches, while more than 100 sightings reported to police and fire authorities were later found to be false or based on doctored or AI-generated images.

“There are many unverified reports, so we plan to dispatch teams only after confirmation by veterinarians and experts,” fire authorities said.

One reported sighting roughly 23km away in Cheongju prompted an hour-long search that found no trace. Officials now believe the wolf remains in the wooded hills around O-World, particularly near Mount Bomun, guided by its homing instinct. Authorities have also said the wolf may be hiding in a self-dug burrow, saying that he had previously shown similar behaviour while inside its enclosure.

The zoo has since broadcast recorded howls from the wolf’s pack and replayed routine visitor announcements the animal had heard since birth in an attempt to lure it back, reported The Korea Herald. Search teams have also shifted tactics and have begun placing traps and waiting for the animal to return rather than pursuing it.

“Wolves are pack animals, so it will likely try to return to its group. If chased too aggressively, it may perceive it as a threat and go further into hiding out of fear,” experts told Korea JoongAng Daily.

The incident in Daejeon, about 170 kilometres (105.63 miles) south of the capital Seoul, has caught ​the imagination ‌of the public and online communities.

A meme coin named "Neukgu" has ‌appeared on decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges, including PumpSwap, with a trading volume of about $140,000 in the last 24 hours as of Friday.

An English-language X community ‌for the ‌wolf has also attracted nearly 500 ⁠followers.

Born in 2024, Neukgu is part of a ‌programme to restore the Korean wolf, a species considered extinct in the wild.

South Korea has seen other high-profile ⁠zoo escapes in recent years, including a zebra that ​was found wandering the streets of Seoul for several hours in 2023 before being caught.

Agencies