Two lions at the Leipzig zoo in Germany escaped a bounded area in the zoo, and one was shot dead after zookeepers failed to sedate it with a tranquilizer.
“It’s a very, very sad outcome but we had no choice,” said Jorg Junhold, the head of the zoo, Agence France‑Presse reported, via The Guardian.
Both of the lions — Majo and Motshegetsi — were just 1 year old, AFP noted. They escaped to the main grounds of the zoo a little after 8:30 a.m., just before the park was set to open up to the public.
Staff immediately placed the zoo on lockdown.
“After Majo was caught and Motshegetsi was hit with a tranquilizer dart, we were hopeful that the breakout could end without any loss of life,” Junhold told AFP.
That wasn’t the case though, as staff reportedly lost control of the situation and were forced to take other measures to maintain the safety of the environment.
“Human safety always comes first,” Junhold said.
The two lions were new to Leipzig, as they both came from Basel zoo last month and were getting acquainted with their new home.
Junhold told AFP that the escape “surprised all of us because the enclosure had been in operation for 15 years. Of course we assume that it is secure.”
According to The Times of India, this isn’t the first incident at Leipzig zoo. Last March, one of the zoo's tigers was killed by another. The killing happened after a partition — originally separating the two tigers — was removed. The incident was referred to as an accident, however.
In May, staff at an Ohio zoo killed a critically endangered gorilla, as it was seen dragging a young boy who had fallen into the gorilla’s corral, The Times of India noted.
The zoo and the child's parents received a great deal of backlash after the incident.
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