Digital Desk: Early on Wednesday, five lions at Sydney's Taronga Zoo made
a brief escape from their enclosure, causing the zoo to issue a "code
one" alarm and evacuate participants in its "Roar and Snore"
overnight stay programme to safety.
Ato, a male adult lion, and his four pups were captured on camera leaving their enclosure at 6.30 a.m. (1930 GMT), even though they were still inside a section of the zoo that was divided from the remainder by a six-foot fence. This led to the warning being sent. While the other four returned on their own, one cub was tranquilized and returned by zookeepers.
Less than 10 minutes after the lions escaped
the main display area, according to the zoo, its emergency response was put
into place. By 9 a.m., it was confirmed that the lions were back in their
enclosure, according to local media.
Both people and animals were unharmed, and the
zoo resumed operations as usual.
Simon Duffy, executive director of Taronga
Zoo, said during a news conference that "rapid action was taken"
despite the fact that the zoo having "extremely strict safety standards in
place for such an incident."
Staff members tried to guide "Roar and
Snore" programme participants away from danger as the police were summoned
to the zoo.
Taronga Zoo's lion enclosure is home to Ato
and Maya and their five cubs - Khari and Luzuko who are male and Malika, Zuri
and Ayanna who are female. While the others escaped, Maya and Ayanna remained
inside the fence.
The zoo
does not yet know how the animals escaped and has launched a formal review.
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