BANGKOK A Canadian grey wolf that was recently recaptured after escaping from a zoo in northern Thailand has died of a lung infection, a zookeeper said Wednesday.
A tracker shot the wolf with a tranquilizer pellet on Aug. 6, about a month after the animal escaped from Chiang Mai Night Safari. The wolf, which is believed to have roamed nearby forests feasting on local chickens during its weeks of freedom, was then returned to the zoo but kept in quarantine as a precaution to protect the other wolves.
Supot Methawiwat, who looked after the animal after it was returned to the zoo, insisted however that the animal did not die of bird flu, which is rampant in the region.
The wolf suffered from a severe lung infection and died six days after we recaptured him, Mr. Supot said. It is 100 per cent guaranteed that the wolf did not die from bird flu.
The night safari is located near the city of Chiang Mai in a vast national park that is dense with mountains and forests.
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