A wolf who escaped a South Korean zoo nine days ago, captivating international attention, has been found and safely returned.

Neukgu burrowed his way out of the O-World zoo and theme park in Daejeon, south of Seoul, on April 8.

His search kept the country on edge as many worried for the 2-year-old wolf eight years after a puma named Bbo-rong was shot and killed hours after it escaped from the same zoo.

Neukgu was seen several times before he was captured, including on surveillance video.

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He was also seen near a highway nearly three miles from the zoo, a zoo official said.

The animal was captured just after midnight on Friday after he was shot by a veterinarian using a tranquilizer gun.

His vital signs were normal following a health check, but a fish hook was removed from his stomach, zoo officials said.

((Daejeon City Corporation/Reuters))

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Neukgu, born in captivity in 2024, is part of a breeding program to bring up the numbers of the Korean wolf, which is considered extinct in the wild.

A veterinarian examines the condition of a male wolf named Neukgu at Daejeon O-World theme park in Daejeon, South Korea, on April 17, 2026. (Daejeon Municipality/AP)

He is of the third generation of wolves brought to South Korea from Russia to reintroduce an animal similar to the Korean wolf, which went extinct in the 1960s.

Daejeon Mayor Lee Jang-woo expressed his gratitude for those involved in the search for bring Neukgu back safely, and pledged on Facebook to «prepare measures for animal ​welfare and civil safety in the process of reorganising (the zoo).»

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The extensive search included drones with thermal image cameras.

Neukgu escaped an earlier attempt at capture when he evaded a perimeter set for him on a mountain near the zoo.

South Koreans were enthralled by Neukgu’s escape, with some calling him an «honorary ambassador for the zoo.» He even sparked an eponymous cryptocurrency meme.

Veterinarians and staff examine the male wolf Neukgu at Daejeon O-World theme park in Daejeon, South Korea, on April 17, 2026. (Daejeon Municipality/AP)

Fans of the wolf lit up social media after his rescue, writing, «welcome back» and «Neukgu, it’s dangerous outside the house.»

After Neukgu’s escape last week, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung wrote on X: «Currently, the police, fire services, and military are mobilizing their full resources to ensure a safe capture and return. I sincerely hope that no casualties occur, and I pray that Neukgu, too, returns safely and unharmed.»

O-World remains closed following Neukgu’s return, as it faces scrutiny following as series of animal escapes. A nearby elementary school also briefly closed after his escape for safety reasons.

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Lee Kwan Jong, director of O-World, said that Neukgu will be kept separate from the other animals until he has recovered.

Zoo officials said they aren’t sure when O-World will reopen as they review security measures, with the director adding that Neukgu’s health will take precedence.

Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

A congressional hearing featuring the victims of crimes tied to illegal immigration erupted into a tense confrontation Thursday.

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., drew fierce backlash from grieving mothers and Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, for appearing to dismiss their tragedies while pivoting to attacks on «MAGA Republicans.»

The fiery exchange happened during a hearing focused on «The Human Toll of Sanctuary Policies,» during which Johnson claimed the victims’ families’ comments were a «Steve Miller-approved» stunt with the sole purpose of «stir[ring] up passion and prejudice against immigrants who are people of color.»

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After offering brief condolences to the families of victims allegedly killed and critically injured by illegal immigrants, Johnson immediately pivoted to a partisan attack, arguing the committee should instead be holding hearings on the «human toll» of the «Trump MAGA tax cuts,» Trump’s foreign policy with Iran or the «cover up of the Epstein files.»

He went on to list a string of violent crimes committed by White men and noted the death of Renee Good, who was killed by federal authorities in January while protesting immigration enforcement.

«I’m not minimizing the tragedy that is before us today with you three women, but the other tragedies at the hands of non-immigrants are just as important,» Johnson said.

He also accused the Republican majority of strategically «sandwich[ing]» a Democrat witness between the victims’ families for «dramatic effect.»

Gill fired back, calling Johnson’s tirade «one of the most disgusting testimonies I have ever heard» and blaming Democrat lawmakers for the tragedies during four years of open borders under the Biden administration.

Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, called Johnson’s tirade «one of the most disgusting testimonies I have ever heard.» (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

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However, the most stinging reply to Johnson’s comments came from Jen Heiling, the mother of victim Brady Heiling, 18, who was killed along with his girlfriend, Hallie Helgeson, 18, in 2025, when an illegal immigrant from Honduras was allegedly driving the wrong way on I-90 while intoxicated, crashing into the teens’ car.

«You can put me in whatever order, in whatever seat. My tragedy is never going to be OK,» Heiling told Johnson. «Today’s our day. Hear us. Leave your butts in your seat. I don’t want to hear your butts.»

A woman holds up a sign that says «Sanctuary policy set my daughter’s perpetrator free, explain that» during a House Judiciary Committee hearing March 4 in the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, D.C. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

She described how her 11-year-old and 16-year-old children are still waiting for the teens to come home, noting that her garage stall remains empty because her son’s car is still being held as police evidence.

«We can’t pick a headstone because that makes it too real. But you can sit here and tell us about what kind of hearing this should be,» Heiling said. «Renee Good is not the same as angel families. She made a choice. … Brady and Hallie didn’t get a choice. … They were living [by] American laws … and they were stolen by somebody who doesn’t care.»

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Patricia Fox, mother of Carissa Aspnes, who was seriously injured in a hit-and-run allegedly caused by an illegal immigrant, followed Heiling’s remarks by shooting back at Johnson’s comments about race, noting, «I don’t know if anybody has noticed, but I am not White. I wake up Brown every day.»

«I’m not sure what race has to do with any of this,» Fox said. «There’s four kids that we talked about today, and y’all can’t seem to stay on topic for what — an hour of your time. 

«Today, we’re talking about sanctuary policies and how they have wrecked our families. Y’all come and y’all feed Carissa. You get her up from her bed using a crane, and then you tell me and lecture me what this hearing should be about.»

El reciente descubrimiento sobre la comunicación de los cachalotes ha transformado el entendimiento acerca de la complejidad de su lenguaje. Científicos trabajando en el Caribe, según detalla la publicación científica National Geographic, han identificado que estos cetáceos emplean patrones acústicos análogos a las vocales humanas.

El hallazgo se fundamenta en el análisis de más de 8.700 codas, secuencias de chasquidos que los cachalotes utilizan para comunicarse, en las que modulan duración, frecuencia y ritmo, formando combinaciones acústicas sistemáticas que recuerdan a la articulación de vocales en el habla humana. Esto apunta a la existencia de una estructura fonética compleja dentro de su sistema comunicativo.

La decodificación de este lenguaje sofisticado ha sido posible gracias al esfuerzo de la iniciativa internacional de investigación científica Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), que reunió una base de datos de más de 8.700 codas grabadas en el Caribe.

Para analizar este volumen de información, el equipo recurrió a la inteligencia artificial. Los algoritmos utilizados lograron identificar diferencias acústicas mínimas y aislar las unidades básicas de la “fonética” de los cachalotes, lo que hasta ahora no había sido posible con métodos convencionales.

El uso de inteligencia artificial permitió detectar patrones y clasificar combinaciones específicas de chasquidos, abriendo la posibilidad de interpretar las reglas estructurales de su comunicación. Este avance tecnológico marca un punto de inflexión en la investigación de la comunicación animal.

El estudio revela paralelismos entre la comunicación de los cachalotes y el lenguaje humano, ya que ambos sistemas organizan su comunicación en unidades acústicas con funciones similares a las vocales. En los humanos, las vocales modifican el significado de las palabras; en los cachalotes, las variaciones en los chasquidos cumplen una función análoga, modulando la información transmitida y permitiendo una organización estructural avanzada.

El equipo observó que los cachalotes no solo encadenan codas, sino que también aplican variaciones sistemáticas, lo que sugiere un grado de complejidad y flexibilidad comparable al de la fonética humana. Aunque este paralelismo estructural no implica necesariamente un significado social equivalente, sí evidencia una convergencia evolutiva en la organización de sistemas de comunicación avanzados.

La investigación identificó cuatro patrones acústicos recurrentes, considerados equivalentes funcionales a las vocales humanas. Estos patrones se distinguen por diferencias precisas en duración e intervalo entre los chasquidos. Además, se demostró que los cachalotes emplean coarticulación: modifican el sonido de un chasquido en función del anterior o del siguiente, una característica documentada también en el habla humana.

Los científicos documentaron una organización jerárquica en los codas, lo que permite a los cachalotes construir mensajes complejos a partir de unidades simples. Esta estructura apoya la hipótesis de que su comunicación sigue reglas similares a las del lenguaje humano, pero adaptadas a las necesidades ecológicas y sociales de la especie.

El descubrimiento de una estructura fonética compleja en los cachalotes plantea nuevas preguntas sobre la evolución del lenguaje. Se considera que los sistemas organizados de comunicación pueden haber surgido de forma independiente en distintas especies, como resultado de presiones sociales y ambientales convergentes.

En los cachalotes, la vida en grupos cohesionados y la necesidad de coordinar actividades como la caza o el cuidado de las crías habrían favorecido la aparición de señales acústicas sofisticadas. Este paralelismo con el origen del lenguaje humano sugiere que la complejidad comunicativa puede emerger en contextos sociales similares, incluso en especies muy distantes.

La presencia de patrones jerárquicos y de unidades equivalentes a las vocales refuerza la idea de que los cachalotes han desarrollado mecanismos avanzados para transmitir información, negociar relaciones y mantener la cohesión grupal.

Los avances actuales representan apenas el inicio en el desciframiento del lenguaje de los cachalotes. Uno de los principales desafíos es ampliar la base de datos de registros acústicos y perfeccionar los modelos de inteligencia artificial para interpretar no solo la estructura, sino también el significado de los mensajes.

El equipo de Project CETI planea continuar con el monitoreo a largo plazo de grupos de cachalotes para registrar interacciones complejas y ampliar el repertorio de codas conocidos. La investigación futura buscará determinar si los cachalotes pueden transmitir información referencial, como detalles sobre objetos, lugares o individuos, y hasta qué punto su sistema comunicativo se asemeja a los lenguajes simbólicos humanos.