Five tigers have sparked a brief emergency at an Australian zoo after they escaped from their enclosure.
The animals – one adult and four cubs – were spotted outside their exhibit at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo around 6:30 local time on Wednesday (22:30 GMT Tuesday).
A spokesman said the zoo was put on lockdown and one cub had to be sedated, but all the lions were secured within minutes. No one was injured.
Escaping is not specified.
But the zoo’s executive director, Simon Duffy, called it a “significant incident” that would be investigated.
He told local media that the tigers had entered a small area “adjacent” to their exhibit – about 100 meters from where visitors were staying overnight at the zoo. The main zoo was closed at that time.
“At no time did the tigers move out of this [adjacent] area and not out of the Taronga Zoo,” he said.
Mr Duffy added that the small area was protected by a six-foot fence normally used to keep people at a safe distance, and the entire zoo was surrounded.
CCTV footage showed a keeper raised the alarm within 10 minutes of the escape, the zoo said.
Crews responded quickly to evacuate everyone on site to safety, according to Mr. Duffy. Four of these lions “made their way back calmly”.
Mr Duffy added that the lion exhibit would remain closed pending further inspections to ensure it was “100% safe”.
Animal escapes are rare in Australian zoos.
In 2009, a tigress at Mogo Zoo in Sydney’s south escaped its enclosure and had to be shot dead because of the danger it posed to the public.
