AUCKLAND RELIEVED

LEOPARD FOUND DEAD IN

LADY BAY,

(BI TELEQRAPB.—PRESS ASSOCIATION.}

AUCKLAND, 11th October

Alarums and excursions regarding tho female leopard which escaped from tho Zoo on 16th September were ended to-day when the benst was found drowned in Lady Bay, near St. Helicrs. The leopard was iio.'itiiig, but there wore uo signs of decomposition. However, it must have boen in the water for some time to come lo the surface.

St. Helicrs is ni.no miles to the oast of Auckland, while the Zoo is in tho western suburb. How the animal travelled so far is not known, but it is surmised that it fell into tho waters of Motion's Crock, below the /Soo. Tliis rises in the Western Springs, and is a fairly strcng body of water. Thus, it is supposed, the leopard was carried into the "Waitemata Harbour, where the tides and. currents would easily carry it to the place where it was found. Its recovery will be a great relief to the western suburbs and the < dwellers in tho bush-clad Waitakere Hills, where there has been an undercurrent of anxiety for over three weeks. '

AUCKLAND, This Day. The leopard when found at St. Helier's Bay was in an excellent state of preservation. It could have been dead only two or three days, -though it is twenty-five days since it escaped from the Zoo. It was found drowned floating on its side about fifty yards from the shore, and was brought to land by four young men in a boat. The reward of £10 offered by the City Council for the recovery of the animal if dead will be shared by them. Tlio body was taken into Lady Bay and there bundled into a boat more easily to effect a triumphant entry into St. Helier's, As tho boat was rowed into the bay an excited crowd gathered on tho beach, and a great concourse gathered. The dimensions of the crowd becamo so serious that the polico saw fit to hasten down a posse to regulate traffic. The body now lies' at the Zoo awaiting burial or cremation. It measures 6 feot 1 inch from head to tail, and is by no means 'the size of a cut," as some people have been wont to believe.