Lions roam free at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo after escaping enclosure

Five of Taronga Zoo’s lions escaped their enclosure this morning forcing staff to hide in ‘safe zones’ as the animals roamed public areas of the Sydney harbourside attraction.

NSW Police were called to the Zoo at about 7am after what staff described as "an emergency situation" involving one lion and four cubs.

The lions had escaped their enclosure earlier, reportedly breaching the containment fence at the Lion Pride Lands attraction.

A young family were reportedly in close proximity to the escaped lions, experiencing a ‘Roar and Snore’ glamping experience. The family were woken by the sound of lions roaring and grumbling at about 4am on Wednesday before going back to sleep.

With the sounds of the animals promoted as a key part of the experience, the family were surprised when, at about 6.40am they were given just 30 seconds to flee their tents to be directed to one of the Zoo’s safe zones.

In a statement following the incident, the Taronga Conservation Society Australia advised blamed a containment fence "integrity issue" for the escape of the four cubs and their mother, commenting "an initial review of this morning's incident has confirmed that an integrity issue with a containment fence enabled five lions to temporarily exit their main exhibit.

"Keepers and vets report all lions are doing well."

Explaining that the lion enclosure had two containment fences, and the animals had breached one of them, Taronga Zoo’s Executive Director, Simon Duffy declared “we don't have the exact details on how and why that occurred, but I would remind everyone that Taronga Zoo itself has its own safety perimeter fence so at no time did the lions exit that area or exit Taronga Zoo."

Duffy said four of the lions "calmly" made their way back to their main exhibits on their own and "one lion cub was safely tranquillised".

He went on to say "all animals are now safe in their back of house exhibit and are being monitored

"We have received video footage and we confirm that it was less than 10 minutes between the lions exiting their main exhibit and the full emergency response being enacted."

The Zoo remained open but the lion exhibit was off limits to visitors today. The lions are in a back-of-house holding area as the investigation continues.

In a social media post, Taronga Zoo said it had "strict safety protocols in place for such an incident", noting "all persons on site were moved to safe zones and there are no injuries to guests or staff.

"All animals are now in their exhibit where they are being closely monitored."

Once the animals were secured, Zookeepers were seen walking the perimeter of the enclosure, while a number of NSW Police officers were also in the enclosure, engaged in conversations with staff.

In August 2021, Taronga's African lioness Maya gave birth to five cubs, all of which remain at the zoo.

Duffy added that staff at the zoo enacted the emergency response, and "then stepped up as wardens".

A report is now being prepared for the NSW Department of Primary Industries after the "significant incident".

Image: One of Taronga Zoo's lionesses. Credit: Shutterstock.