JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office recently answered an unusual call: The Jacksonville Zoo & Gardens needed help to find a wandering warthog.
The zoo said it had to close its doors early Friday night because a warthog named Mateo had escaped from its enclosure.
The animal care team searched for the wild pig gone wild, but they needed an extra hand — or drone — from JSO.
It’s definitely not a call we get every day: there’s a missing warthog at the zoo. But on Friday night, Officer Sam Ho with your #JSO Unmanned Aerial Systems unit responded. With the help of the Eagle Eye thermal drone, he located Mateo the warthog in a palmetto thicket on the… pic.twitter.com/L58EfHBBZF
— Jax Sheriff's Office (@JSOPIO) December 9, 2024
Officer Sam Ho readied the Eagle Eye thermal drone to track down Mateo.
“I flew the drone a couple of times,” Ho said. “Had a spot of interest with the thermal drone spot.”
Ho guided the search crew to find Mateo late Friday night “nestled in a palmetto thicket,” the zoo said.
“We were able to safely locate it and get it to the animal hospital for recovery,” Ho said.
The warthog wasn’t hurt but was evaluated to make sure he was healthy after his adventure.
“A massive thank you goes to our incredible staff for their tireless efforts in recovering Mateo, and to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for their invaluable help in locating him with a thermal drone. This was truly a team effort, and we’re so grateful for the amazing collaboration that brought him back safe and sound," the zoo wrote in an update on Facebook.