- Lioness escaped from its enclosure in Belgium’s Planckendael zoo this morning
- Up to 40 visitors were forced to hide in a gift shop as the emergency unfolded
- The young animal was eventually shot dead after two attempts to sedate it failed
A lioness has been shot dead at a Belgian zoo after escaping from its enclosure.
Up to 40 people were forced to hide in a gift shop at Planckendael zoo, 19 miles north of Belgian capital Brussels, while the emergency unfolded this morning.
School children were kept inside a bus in the car park while desperate attempts were made to bring the animal under control.
But staff eventually had to kill the lioness after two attempts at sedating it proved unsuccessful, according to Belgian media.
A lioness has been shot dead at a Belgian zoo after escaping from its enclosure. Up to 40 people were forced to hide in a gift shop at the park while school children were kept in a bus as the emergency unfolded this morning (pictured)
In a tweet this morning, the zoo – 19 miles north of Belgian capital Brussels – said that a ‘young lioness’ had managed to escape its enclosure. Pictured is a lioness and cubs at the zoo in 2010
In a tweet this morning, the zoo said that a ‘young lioness’ had managed to escape its enclosure.
The statement said that ‘the few people present were immediately evacuated and never in danger.’
An update revealed that the animal had been shot.
‘After two unsuccessful anesthetic attempts, we had to let the escaped lioness fall asleep with a shot. Visitors and staff were never in danger,’ the update said.
It is not yet clear how the lion escaped or exactly how long it was on the loose.
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