Yahoo News Children told to stay inside after wolf escapes Berkshire wildlife park in high winds
Schools have been placed on lockdown after a wolf escaped from a wildlife sanctuary in Berkshire.
The animal broke free after gale force winds overnight damaged a fence in its enclosure at the UK Wolf Conservation Trust, witnesses said.
Police were called at 8am with reports from a panicked member of the public about the escape.
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."
Officers are currently in Beenham.
At around 8am we received a call reporting a wolf had escaped from a sanctuary in Picklepythe Lane.
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.— TVP West Berkshire (@TVP_WestBerks) January 18, 2018
Pupils at Downe House school have also reportedly been told to stay inside.
Tony Roe, who lives near the wolf sanctuary, first learned of the escape when taking his son to Beenham Primary School at about 8.25am.
The 53-year-old, who runs Theale-based Tony Roe Solicitors, said: "We got to the school gate and a police officer was standing outside. I asked if something was happening and she said a fence had blown down at the sanctuary and a wolf had escaped.
"She was making sure the children got into school safely and the gate was secure.
"About five minutes later I saw a police car with blue flashing lights heading towards the sanctuary.
"It was very windy - about 30 or 40 mph. It woke me up in the night."
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.
The sanctuary in Beenham - which is between Reading and Newbury - declined to comment.
