(UPI) A Welsh zoo that has been the subject of numerous recent controversies announced Wednesday morning that two African antelopes had escaped the facility.

The Borth Wild Animal Kingdom in Aberystwyth said in a Facebook post Wednesday that the male and female lechwe, a species of African antelope, escaped from the facility earlier in the day.

"We have located the male and are doing our best to keep him in one place as our dart team on their way. The female is not dangerous at all, the male however, has big horns, but is not aggressive," the Facebook post said.

"They will run away from people so please keep your distance and call us so that we can contain them until the dart team arrive," it said. There is no reason to be afraid, please remain calm especially if you see them so that we can get them safely back to the zoo.

The zoo was ordered to close in January when the local government determined the zoo did not have proper security procedures in place to handle an animal escape. The facility was allowed to reopen in February, but has since closed again due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The zoo made headlines in 2017 when an escaped lynx was shot and killed by a marksman. It later emerged that one in five of the zoo's animals died due to various circumstances during 2018.

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