It is understood that a single tranquilizer dart fired from 20 meters away hit its mark to capture "Neukgu," which escaped from Daejeon O-World.
According to Daejeon City on the 17th, at about 5:30 p.m. on the 16th, a report came in to the joint search team that Neukgu had been spotted. At about 6:18 p.m., while the joint search team was searching with a drone, another report came in that Neukgu was seen near the pavilion on Manseong Mountain and Chimsan Bridge.
After confirming the report, Choi Jin-ho, executive director of the Wildlife Management Association, judged that Neukgu had become more agile than when it was first found on the 14th. The joint team asked the fire authorities to block Neukgu's entry route near the reported location and deployed personnel, including Daejeon City Corporation, to carry out the search, but failed to find Neukgu.
At about 11:45 p.m. the same day, a drone searching the Anyoung-dong area detected Neukgu. At that time, Executive Director Choi and veterinarian Jin Se-rim, vice administrator of the National Institute of Ecology (NIE) Animal Welfare Department, who had been standing by nearby, moved to the sighting location. At 12:17 a.m. that night, having found Neukgu near the Anyoung IC, Executive Director Choi and veterinarian Jin proceeded with the capture operation, respectively carrying a thermal imaging camera and a tranquilizer gun.
Neukgu spotted the search team and began to flee along a retreat route, and veterinarian Jin, who was hiding among the trees, fired one tranquilizer dart from about 20 meters away. The dart hit Neukgu in the thigh, and over about 6–7 minutes Neukgu moved roughly 500 meters before falling into a ditch. Because there was a risk of suffocation if the airway was blocked in the water, the joint team immediately lifted Neukgu out and secured the airway.
Neukgu was then transferred to the O-World animal hospital, where blood tests showed no abnormalities. However, an X-ray found a 2.6-centimeter fishhook in the stomach, and Neukgu was moved to a secondary animal hospital to have it removed by endoscopy.