Five lions escaped from their enclosure at Taronga Zoo early this morning on November 2nd.
The famous Sydney zoo quickly went into lockdown at 7.30am and all staff members had to go into the zoo’s ‘safe zone’ once the lockdown siren sounded.
The zoo’s lion keepers did not go into lockdown though, they looked for the lions’ whereabouts.
NSW Police were also on the scene as a precaution; especially as initially there were fears the lions had left the zoo’s grounds entirely.
It’s not yet clear how the lions escaped but it may have been through a hole in the fence of their enclosure, as footage shown on The Today Show showed Taronga Zoo staff members closely examining the fence.
As of 9am, the lions have been captured and Taronga Zoo is no longer in lockdown.
A statement from Taronga Zoo said, “An emergency situation occurred this morning at Taronga Zoo when five lions were located outside of their enclosure.”
“The zoo has strict safety protocols in place for such an incident. All persons on site were moved to safe zones and there are no injuries to guests or staff. As predicted, all animals are now in their exhibit closely monitored by zoo staff. The situation seems to be at ease.”
“The zoo will open as normal today. Further details will be provided when possible.”
While it hasn’t been made public knowledge yet how the lions escaped, presumably Taronga Zoo staff members must’ve figured out how the lions got out and rectified the issue, otherwise the zoo wouldn’t be opening today at 10am.
In fact, a bus filled with school kids pulled up at the zoo just after 9am and the kids were excitedly waiting outside the entrance.
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