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Australia
AsiaAustralasia

5 lions escape enclosure at Australian zoo, sparking emergency lockdown

  • Alarms blared throughout Sydney’s harbourside Taronga Zoo on Wednesday morning after it had declared a ‘code one’ alert to find the escaped animals
  • The zoo was closed, but staff rushed guests of its ‘Roar and Snore’ overnight stay programme to safety. One lion cub had to be tranquillised

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A female lion is seen eating a frozen block of milk in an enclosure at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo in this file photograph. Photo: AFP
Agence France-Pressein Sydney
Five African lions broke out of their enclosure at a zoo in Australia on Wednesday, triggering an emergency lockdown as police and specialist handlers scrambled to round up the escaped animals.

Alarms blared throughout Sydney’s harbourside Taronga Zoo as it declared a “code one” alert and staff rushed guests of its “Roar and Snore” overnight stay programme to safety. The zoo was closed to the public at the time and the lions were soon tracked down and returned to their exhibit.

Video footage showed four cubs and one adult lion outside their enclosure at 6.30am local time, Taronga Zoo Executive Director Simon Duffy told a news conference. One lion cub had to be tranquillised.

African lion cubs play together in their enclosure at Taronga Zoo. A lion cub had to be tranquillised following Wednesday’s escape. Photo: AFP
African lion cubs play together in their enclosure at Taronga Zoo. A lion cub had to be tranquillised following Wednesday’s escape. Photo: AFP

“This is a significant incident and a full review is now under way to confirm exactly how the lions were able to exit their main exhibit,” he said. “We don’t have the exact details of how and why that occurred.”

“The zoo has very strict safety protocols in place for such an incident and immediate action was taken. All persons on site were moved to safe zones,” Duffy said.

Zookeepers were seen probing the fences of the lion enclosure for signs of damage. The animals had escaped into a small area near the main exhibit but were still separated from the rest of the zoo by a six-foot fence.

The zoo said its emergency response was enacted less than 10 minutes after the lions escaped the main exhibit area. The lions were confirmed to be back in their enclosure by 9am, local media reported.

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