--- description: The zoo was put on lockdown. title: A Cheetah Escaped Its Pen at the Indianapolis Zoo image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75091606fd8359c7/698862695f570fbe99b1d41c/gettyimages-485291815.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [animals](/tag/animals/) ## animals Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # A Cheetah Escaped Its Pen at the Indianapolis Zoo  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 6, 2015 3:48 PM CUT  Cheetahs CheetahsGetty Images  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Sep 6, 2015 3:48 PM CUT The Indianapolis Zoo has tranquilized an escaped cheetah after issuing a Code Red warning to guests. The zoo discovered that the cat was missing from its Plains Exhibit at around 9:30 am on Sunday and ordered the zoo be put on lockdown, with visitors put into secure shelter. Visitors were rushed into the restrooms to safety. “We were right by the penguins, close to the plains, and employees just kind of rushed us and said, ‘You need to go to the bathrooms. There’s been a Code Red,'” visitor Angela Knight [told RTV6](http://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/code-red-issued-as-cheetah-escapes-at-indianapolis-zoo "undefined"). “They told us there was a cheetah. My husband and son and little girl had to separate into different bathrooms.” > [](https://twitter.com/IndianapolisZoo/status/640542222266425344) The cheetah was found and tranquilized at around 11 am. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4023963/escaped-cheetah-indianapolis/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4023963/escaped-cheetah-indianapolis/"},"headline":"A Cheetah Escaped Its Pen at the Indianapolis Zoo","datePublished":"2015-09-06T15:48:41.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:43:33.168Z","description":"Visitors were rushed into safety in restrooms","url":"https://time.com/4023963/escaped-cheetah-indianapolis/","keywords":["animals","Zoo","local"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75091606fd8359c7/698862695f570fbe99b1d41c/gettyimages-485291815.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt75091606fd8359c7/698862695f570fbe99b1d41c/gettyimages-485291815.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"485291815","caption":"485291815","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/animals/","name":"animals"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4023963/escaped-cheetah-indianapolis/","name":"A Cheetah Escaped Its Pen at the Indianapolis Zoo"}}]}] ```