Lyrebird impersonates ‘evacuate now’ alarm at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo

Hilarious moment a cheeky lyrebird impersonates ‘evacuate now’ alarm at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo after sneaky lions escaped their enclosure

  • Lyrebird at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo filmed mimicking sound of evacuation alarm
  • Comes days after the alarm was activated when five lions escaped enclosure
  • Resident native bird at Taronga previously mimicked sound of a crying baby 

Incredible footage has emerged of a cheeky lyrebird impersonating an evacuation alarm at one of Australia’s biggest zoos.

The native Australian bird’s early morning mimic of the emergency alarm at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo comes just days after the popular tourist attraction was plunged into lockdown when a male lion and his four cubs escaped their enclosure.

The hilarious video has since gone viral racking up of view thousands and shares.

The colorful birds have the ability to accurately mimic almost any sound including music, engines, alarms, mobile phone ring tones and other animals.

A resident lyrebird at Taronga named Echo made headlines a year ago when it mimicked the sound of a crying baby during Covid-19 lockdown.

This lyrebird caused chaos at Taronga Zoo on Sunday by mimicking the emergency evacuation alarm which rang out across the zoo days earlier

The lyrebirds are among more than 5,000 animals from 350 species that call Taronga Zoo home.

They sing throughout the year but are at their most boisterous during the peak of the breeding season between June and August.

Males may sing for four hours of the day during this time, almost half the hours of daylight.

The Mosman-based zoo went into lockdown on November 2  when male lion Ato and 16-month-old cubs Khari, Luzuko, Malike and Zuri escaped from their enclosure, sparking a panicked emergency response.

More than 50 visitors were camping overnight at the time, including dozens of students on an over night school excursion.

The lions were found in an area adjacent to the main exhibit and were safely returned to their exhibit before the zoo opened to the public for the day. 

Taronga Zoo was plunged into chaos early on November 2 after five lions escaped their enclosure

Taronga Zoo was plunged into chaos early on November 2 after five lions escaped their enclosure

The zoo provided an update on the incident on Thursday with more details of how the lions got out.

‘Preliminary independent engineering advice has confirmed that swages (clamps that join wire cables together) failed, enabling a lacing cable that connects the fence mesh to a tension cable to unravel,’ a statement read.

‘The lions were then able to create and squeeze through a gap.’

The zoo’s ongoing review into the incident discovered that the lions had been ‘playing and interacting’ with the fence for around 20 minutes before it was breached.

Adult male lion Ato led four cubs out of the enclosure while ‘lioness Maya and one cub chose to remain in the exhibit’.

The lions continue to remain in an outdoor, back-of-house holding area, pending specialist engineering advice.

The zoo explained in a statement that clamps used to join wire cables together had 'failed' which led to a lacing cable to unravel and create a small gap in the fence (pictured)

The zoo explained in a statement that clamps used to join wire cables together had ‘failed’ which led to a lacing cable to unravel and create a small gap in the fence (pictured)

***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk