South Korean authorities have deployed heat-seeking cameras and drones in a widening search for a runaway wolf that has been on the loose for three days after escaping from a zoo.

The two-year-old male, named Neukgu, burrowed under a fence at Daejeon O-World zoo and theme park in the central city of Daejeon on Wednesday, officials said.

More than 300 personnel – including firefighters, police officers and military troops – have been mobilised in the hunt for the animal, Daejeon Fire Headquarters said.

Addressing the incident on Thursday, President Lee Jae Myung said in a post on X: “I hope no human casualties occur and I pray that Neukgu also returns home safely.”

A nearby elementary school was closed as a precaution on Thursday after the wolf remained at large, and authorities have urged residents to take care and report any sightings.

Thermal imaging footage provided by Korea Wildlife Protection Association showed the wolf moving along a wooded hillside near the zoo on Wednesday, Reuters news agency reported.

Drone cameras were deployed early on Thursday morning but had to be withdrawn due to heavy rain, an official told AFP news agency.

Zoo officials said the wolf damaged the fence before escaping.

An official at Daejeon O-World told The Korea Times newspaper: “We conduct daily inspections of each enclosure before opening, and one wolf was missing. After checking CCTV, we confirmed it had dug through the soil at the bottom of the enclosure and escaped.”

Born in 2024, Neukgu was part of a conservation programme aimed at restoring the Korean wolf, a species considered extinct in the wild, according to Reuters.

The runaway wolf has inspired a meme coin, named ‘Neukgu’, which appeared on decentralised cryptocurrency exchanges in the last 24 hours, media reported.

The incident has drawn comparisons with a 2023 escape of a zebra named Sero from a zoo in Seoul.