Neukgu, the two-year-old wolf who broke loose from a South Korean zoo and captured the nation’s attention, has finally been captured following a nine-day long search.

Neukgu was captured near an expressway on Friday at 00:44 local time (16:44 GMT), according to the government of Daejeon, the central city where his zoo was located.

Upon a medical examination, Neukgu’s pulse and body temperature were normal, authorities said.

Hundreds of rescue officials had been deployed to find the wolf, and there were a couple of times when authorities came close to getting him – but each time the net seemed to be closing in, Neukgu would slink away.

Authorities had nearly caught him earlier this week, when the local fire department received a report on Monday night that Neukgu had been spotted on a mountain about 2km (1.2 miles) away from O-World, the zoo and theme park from which he had broken loose.

A video of the wolf scampering on a road in the dark, illuminated by the headlights of a vehicle, was also uploaded on social media.

Authorities pounced on the lead, launching a search-and-rescue mission, but ultimately he escaped again.

The elusive Neukgu has inspired a meme coin, hailed by its creators as a the “wolf that wouldn’t stay caged” and a “symbol of independence”.

Born in 2024, Neukgu is part of a programme at O-World to restore the Korean wolf, which once roamed the Korean Peninsula but is now considered extinct in the wild.

But after a life in captivity, some worried that he wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild.

Animal rights groups were also concerned that Neukgu would be killed during the capture process – something that happened to Porongi, a puma that had escaped from the same zoo in 2018.

Even South Korea’s president Lee Jae Myung publicly prayed for Neukgu’s safe return home, in a post on social media.

Those fears have been put to rest now that Neukgu has been safely caught.

Authorities launched another search operation in the Anyeong-dong area on Thursday evening after receiving a tip-off. It was there that they finally caught him, shooting him with a tranquilliser gun before whisking him back to the zoo.

A video of the capture operation, posted by the Daejeon city government, showed a limp Neukgu being hauled by rescuers and placed in a carrier. Authorities later posted photos of a sedated Neukgu being attended to in a medical facility.

“Thank you to everyone who worked hard to bring Neukgu home,” the city government wrote on social media.

“To everyone who worried about Neukgu’s safety and cheered us on, thank you all so much.”