Ten Days Surviving on Fish Bones and Hooks... The Liberation Diary of Neukgu, the Two-Year-Old Wolf

The male wolf "Neukgu," who dug under a barbed-wire fence and ventured out into the world, has returned home after about ten days. For Neukgu, those ten days were a brief but intense "wild experience."

On April 17, Daejeon City and search authorities announced that they had captured Neukgu, who had escaped from Daejeon O-World, at 12:44 a.m. that day near the Anyoung Interchange (IC) in Anyoung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon. This marks his capture ten days after his escape on April 8.

On the morning of the 7th, veterinarians and staff at Daejeon O-World in Sajung-dong, Jung-gu, Daejeon, are checking the condition of a wolf named Wookoo that was hit with a tranquilizer dart. Photo by Yonhap News

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Neukgu’s journey began quietly. After digging under the safari barbed-wire fence and escaping, he left only traces as he moved between the nearby hills and the urban boundary. Despite multiple sightings being reported, all attempts to capture him failed. At one point, there was even a mix-up where he was mistaken for a badger. The breakthrough came about 2 kilometers away from the escape point. Search authorities used a thermal imaging camera to locate him, then, in the presence of a veterinarian, fired a tranquilizer dart. About 30 minutes later, they successfully captured Neukgu alive.

The price of a brief taste of freedom was not small. When Neukgu was found, he was noticeably emaciated and exhausted from not being able to find proper food. During a health check, a 2.6-centimeter fish bone, a fishing hook, and leaves were found in his stomach. It is presumed that he swallowed a fish caught with a fishing hook while searching for food in the wild. Neukgu has since undergone a foreign body removal procedure at the animal hospital, and his overall health-including breathing and pulse-has been confirmed to be stable.

Neukgu was noticeably emaciated at the time of discovery and exhausted from not being able to find food properly. Photo by Daejeon City Instagram

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News of Neukgu’s rescue brought a sense of relief among citizens. Many responded, “I’m glad he’s safe,” and “He really showed us how hard it is to leave home.” Some citizens even suggested to the Daejeon Tourism Organization the creation of Neukgu-themed merchandise, such as an O-World mascot character of Neukgu, “Neukgu World,” a children’s book called “Neukgu’s Adventure,” Neukgu paw-shaped bread, and a limited edition “Return Commemorative T-shirt.”

After Neukgu’s escape from O-World, an online map tracking his movements and sightings, called “Neukgu Map,” was even created. On past zoo videos, comments wishing for his safe return continued to appear, spreading interest further. Amid this, Neukgu earned the nickname “the nation’s wolf,” and began to be consumed as a form of content. Some netizens suggested making character merchandise or adapting his story into children’s books or webtoons, signaling moves toward secondary creative works.

Daejeon City posted on its official Instagram around 2 a.m. on the 17th a composite sketch of Neukgu with the caption "Welcome, Neukgu," and soon after the rescue, photos of Neukgu were uploaded. Daejeon City Instagram

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So, why did Neukgu attract such widespread attention? Analysts say that behind Neukgu’s popularity was a sense of “narrative” that went beyond a simple escape. Choi Miyeon, a professor in the Department of Media Content at Paichai University, explained in an interview with KBS, “From the event of breaking through the barbed-wire fence and escaping, to the survival story crossing between the city and the hills, and finally being rescued-the story structure drew in the public’s emotions.”

She added, “(Neukgu’s story) played out in real time on social media like a drama, as people shared his location and updates, and it was consumed like a participatory form of content. As Neukgu was anthropomorphized, the story was reproduced and spread even further.”

Meanwhile, Daejeon City stated that it plans to strengthen animal management and citizen safety measures in light of this incident. O-World is scheduled to reopen after facility inspections and maintenance, but its operations are expected to be limited for the time being. However, O-World officials are reportedly considering ways to make Neukgu more easily identifiable, given the high level of public interest in him.

In particular, since Neukgu’s habitat was a 33,000-square-meter open radial safari, not a confined animal enclosure, it is not easy to spot him among the more than 20 animals roaming there. An official from the organization said, “We are considering options such as giving Neukgu a name tag or some type of marker so he can be easily recognized.”

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