A small dog missing for more than a month in Yellowstone National Park has been found and reunited with her owners, according to the Associated Press. Luna, a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier mixed with chihuahua, bolted from her family’s cabin during a park vacation and spent 34 days surviving on her own before volunteers caught her in a live trap.
Staff believe a housekeeping employee accidentally opened the cabin door where Luna’s family had left her with a “Do Not Disturb” sign while they explored the park, the AP reported. Park staff chased the dog for more than two hours after she got loose, but she escaped into the vast landscape of Yellowstone.
How Luna Was Found And Rescued
Over the following weeks, Luna was spotted repeatedly around the park. Witnesses saw her crossing intersections, wandering through employee housing and even walking into lodges through automatic doors, according to the AP.
At one point, Luna’s owners were told their dog had likely died, possibly killed by a coyote. Days after leaving Yellowstone, though, they learned Luna had been seen again and reached out to the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Norris, Montana.
Boucher, president of the recovery center, worked with volunteers to set a live trap baited with the family’s scent rather than food, a method meant to avoid luring in bears or other wildlife, the AP reported. The trap worked, and Luna was caught and reunited with her family on Wednesday. She was underweight but alert and in good spirits after her rescue, according to the AP.
What It Means For Visitors With Pets
Officials involved in the search said one of the biggest obstacles to catching Luna sooner was well-meaning tourists and locals trying to approach her. Marie Jaskula, an area resident who runs one of the park’s general stores, said people calling Luna’s name or chasing her only made things worse.
“It’s really hard to stress the importance of do not chase,” Jaskula said, according to the AP. “Everybody sees this little dog buzz across the intersection or maybe around their employee housing, and the first instinct is to call her name and chase her.”
That instinct, officials said, triggered Luna’s fight-or-flight response and pushed her deeper into the park each time someone tried to grab her or get her attention. For families traveling with pets in Yellowstone, the case is a reminder that a loose animal in a wilderness setting often needs a trained response rather than a crowd of good intentions.
Background And Context
Yellowstone National Park spans roughly 3,500 square miles across Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, and it is home to grizzly bears, wolves and other predators, according to the AP. That combination of scale and wildlife made Luna’s monthlong disappearance especially dangerous, and it is part of why her family had been told early on that she likely had not survived.
The exact spot where Luna was finally trapped was not specified in reporting, nor were details on how her movements were tracked during the weeks she was missing. It also was not reported whether she suffered any injuries beyond being underweight when she was found.
What’s Next
Luna is back with her family following her rescue on Wednesday. No further updates on her recovery or condition were available beyond officials describing her as alert and in good spirits after 34 days on her own in the park.
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