Five lions briefly escaped from their enclosure at Taronga Zoo in Sydney this morning, which really would have scarily spiced up those school trips to the zoo. 

A ‘Code One’ alert was triggered earlier today after the animals managed to escape, with a probably frightened construction worker making the discovery.

Taronga Zoo staff were urged to retreat to ‘safe havens’ as the search for the lions started. Thankfully, no injuries occurred to any of the staff or guests.

“All persons on site were moved to safe zones and there are no injuries to guests or staff,” a Taronga Zoo statement read. “All animals are now in their exhibit where they are being closely monitored.”

The zoo also confirmed that it would open back up as normal for the rest of the day, with “further details” to be “provided when possible.”

Imagine you were casually strolling around North Sydney on a nondescript Wednesday morning, only to see five lions running past you on the street. It’s the stuff of zany family action films.

Taronga Zoo currently hosts a total of two adult lions and five lion cubs. It’s still unclear how they initially managed to flee their enclosure in the African Savannah area of the zoo, but an investigation will likely be underway. Nobody wants to take their kids to a zoo where apex predators are known to be able to (briefly escape.

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It’s actually not the first time animals have escaped in Sydney. Back in early 2020, three baboons escaped from a truck at an animal research facility at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in the inner west, but were quickly caught.

To make matters worse for one of the poor baboons, he was being transported to the hospital for a vasectomy at the time.

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