Flaviu missing 2 weeks now - public hunting him!

I didn't expect this petition to even get one signature or any attention. Unexpectedly I've had messages from all over the world and media contacting me, as well as about 100 signatures a day! Have to say I didn't pay much attention to the story of the missing Lynx (Flaviu) originally. But as I read one newspaper article on his escape it just seemed so sad. I've always visited zoo's in the past, in fact it's always been one of my favourite things to do. But this escape story just shows how these animals shouldn't be kept captive for our amusement, research or conservation, no matter how picturesque and large their enclosures are. This lynx was taken from it's parents as the zoo felt he was ready to move on, and he was taken to a new zoo almost 5 hours away. I understand this sort of thing happens all the time, but he has now escaped within hours of being in his new environment - the 4th animal to escape Dartmoor since the new owners bought it. Originally the zoo owner claimed the lynx escaped because he wanted to get back to his mum, you can find quotes of this in papers and online articles. Since this petition started, a statement from Dartmoor Zoo says that him wanting his mum was public perception and that actually the opposite is true - which is interesting as they are using his mums calls and bedding to lure him back! Maybe he is fine, or maybe he's stressed, hungry, thirsty and tired in this heat, or maybe even worse. Tomorrow Flaviu will have been missing 2 weeks. There have been no photos or video sightings of him, although the zoo insist they're closing in on him. At the beginning of the search a manhunt of helicopters, sniffer dogs and traps were set up, as well as people on foot with tranquiliser guns alongside the media and the public. That must have been quite a stressful environment for a captive animal that doesn't know where he is. Even recently it was reported by the zoo that some of the general public are trying to hunt and kill Flaviu as a trophy. It seems a shame that this poor animal may suffer for mistakes that were made by the people who should have been looking after him. My question now is, if he is found dead, will we ever know about it? I can't imagine the zoo wanting to announce the death of an animal they lost? When an animal goes missing from a zoo, should it not be investigated by people other than the owners themselves? Whilst I doubt anything will come of this petition, it would be good to have someone non-zoo related investigating his disappearance as well. Maybe they are, but I haven't heard or seen anything to show that is the case. I believe there should be an investigation into the method at which zoo's choose when an animal is ready to move away from his parents, and how they do this. Is it suddenly removed from them one day, and often moved to another location entirely? Whilst there must be a natural age for animals to move on, surely not all are the same. However, I do understand that if he was showing signs of needing his own space, then it was clearly the right thing to move him. Currently the petition is addressed to BBC Panorama, although I'm not sure whether they would investigate this. If you have any suggestions on who this petition should be addressed to please leave a comment on the petition. I just hope Flaviu has a happy life, as all animals should, and hope he is found safe and well.