Sydney: Five lions quickly escaped from their enclosure at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo early Wednesday, prompting the zoo to issue a “code one” alert and escorting guests of the overnight stay to safety . The alert was issued after video footage showed a male adult lion named Eto and four cubs outside their enclosure at 6.30 a.m. (1930 GMT), though they were still standing by a six-foot fence from the rest of the zoo. were in a different area. Zoo keepers calmed down and turned one cub back, while the remaining four made their way back of their own accord.
The zoo said an emergency response was invoked less than 10 minutes after the lions fled the main exhibition area. Local media reported that by 9 a.m. the lions were confirmed to return to their enclosures.
There were no injuries to people or animals and the zoo opened as normal.
“The zoo has very strict safety protocols for an incident like this and immediate action was taken,” Simon Duffy, executive director of the Taronga Zoo, told a news conference.
Police were called to the zoo and staff hurried to move the guests of the “Roar and Snore” event away from danger.
Magnus Perry, one of the guests, told local media, “They came into the tent area saying, ‘It’s Code One, get out of your tent and run, now come and drop your stuff’.” Zoo
The lion shed at Taronga Zoo is home to Eto and Maya and their five cubs – Khari and Luzuko who are males and Malika, Zuri and Ayana who are females. Maya and Ayana stay in the enclosure while the rest leave.
The zoo does not yet know how the animals fled and has launched a formal review.