Ollie the bobcat found safe at National Zoo

WASHINGTON - They took Ollie to the zoo's vet hospital and she was identified through a transponder chip.

"She's doing well right now," said Brandie Smith, the zoo's associate director of animal care. "The only effect from her adventure in the zoo was she has a small cut on her left front paw."

Smith said the cut did not need treatment and the 7-year-old bobcat will undergo a full examination Thursday morning.

Zoo officials said Ollie is believed to have escaped from a hole in the mesh netting at her enclosure at the exhibit she shares with two other male bobcats. The exhibit was closed to visitors after Ollie's escape.

"Did she escape because she wanted to be free? Well, I don't know," said Saffoe. "I think she wanted to go out and have a little bit of fun, see what it was like on the outside ... and she came right back into the trap."