Raccoon suspected of being stolen from zoo,Yunnan Adventure Travel

Raccoon suspected of being stolen from zoo

A visitor is believed to have taken a raccoon from a petting area at a zoo in southwestern Yunnan Province during the Mid-Autumn Festival, and police are investigating.

The Yunnan Wild Zoo in the capital city of Kunming is the first in China that allows visitors to play with raccoons, which are nationally protected, rather than just view them in enclosures.

The petting area program was launched on September 16, and one of the zoo's 48 raccoons, named "Dian Dian," was reported missing five days later, China News Service reported.

None of the facilities or fences was damaged, and electric nets still worked, according to Li Youlong, manager of the zoo administrative department. Iron wires are buried so that raccoons are unable to dig their way out, and there were no traces of such activities found.

There is little chance that Dian Dian got out alone, Li said. The zoo suspects that a visitor likely made off with Dian Dian, but they don't know why.

The zoo has started checking video footage from surveillance cameras and called police for help.

Li warned that individuals were banned from raising raccoons under national law and improper feeding of the animals might cause their death.

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