A two year old wolf named Neukgu dug his way under the fence at Daejeon O-World zoo in South Korea last week and has been on the run ever since. More than 300 firefighters, police and military personnel have been deployed to find him, along with thermal imaging drones, traps and even wolf howls broadcast from the zoo to try to lure him back. The search has turned into one of the most chaotic manhunts the country has seen in years. Neukgu has been spotted on roads at night and caught on thermal cameras weaving through forests, but keeps vanishing before authorities can close in. At one point, a local resident turned up to help with their own wolfdog, and an AI generated image of Neukgu went viral and sent search teams hunting in the wrong area entirely. He now even has his own meme coin. Born in captivity in 2024, Neukgu is part of a program to restore the Korean wolf, a species considered extinct in the wild. With almost no hunting experience, there’s genuine concern for his safety, especially after an eight year old puma that escaped the same zoo back in 2018 was shot dead by police. South Korean president Lee Jae Myung has publicly wished for Neukgu’s safe return, posting on X that he hopes there are no human casualties and that the wolf makes it home #hosted #pubity #viral