Latest: Wolf recaptured after escaping from sanctuary

Latest: A wolf which escaped after strong winds blew down a fence at a sanctuary near a school in England has been recaptured.

Latest: Wolf recaptured after escaping from sanctuary

Update 2.50pm:  A wolf which escaped after strong winds blew down a fence at a sanctuary near a school in England has been recaptured.

Police had told school children not to go outside and members of the public not to approach the animal which went on the loose from the UK Wolf Conversation Trust sanctuary in Beenham, near Reading.

Officers were called at 8am on Thursday to the scene near the centre in Picklepythe Lane - which is just over three miles from the Duchess of Cambridge's family home in Bucklebury.

The force said the wolf, which was recaptured unharmed, since travelled around eight miles to Curridge.

Teresa Palmer, 62, who founded the sanctuary, helped to encourage the 12-year-old wolf, called Torak, into a caged trailer before it was taken back to its home.

She said: "The fact he went through a field of sheep on his way shows he would never be a threat to the public."

The entrance to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust's premises in Reading from where one of their animals is reported to have escaped. 
The entrance to the UK Wolf Conservation Trust's premises in Reading from where one of their animals is reported to have escaped. 

Earlier: Children have been warned not to go outside after a wolf escaped from a sanctuary near a school in England.

Police have told members of the public not to approach the animal which is on the loose from the UK Wolf Conservation Trust sanctuary in Beenham, near Reading.

Officers were called at 8am on Thursday to the scene near the centre in Picklepythe Lane.

A Thames Valley Police spokesman said: "Officers have sight of the wolf and are working with staff from the sanctuary to detain it.

"Do not approach the wolf if you see it."

Sian Champkin, whose husband works at Elstree Independent Boys Preparatory School in nearby Woolhampton, said pupils have been told not to go outside.

The 37-year-old said: "He phoned me to tell me about it because we have a child, a dog and a cat and not to go outside. The sanctuary is about a mile away as the crow flies.

"I was slightly shocked, nothing like this has ever happened before."

Founded in 1995, the sanctuary currently has 10 wolves from the Artic and Northwestern breeds, living in four packs. Two of the packs are from Dartmoor and another from Quebec. The remaining wolves were born at the sanctuary.

Both the school and the sanctuary declined to comment.

PA

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