Lions caught after 2 hours
PA Rotorua Three lions escaped from Whirling Brothers Circus in Rotorua yesterday setting off a two-hour hunt by the police and emergency services in the lakefront area.
Nobody was hurt and the lions were safely returned to their cages. The animals escaped soon after 2 p.m. and headed for the lakefront reserve. Within minutes about 30 police, including sharpshooters, had staked out the area. One of the two male lions was recaptured soon after, but a female sprinted back towards the central city. It was finally cornered by police and Ministry of Transport cars.
The third lion holed up under a building attached to Queen Elizabeth Hospital. Patients and staff at the hospital barricaded themselves in while the police tried to persuade the lion to go into a cage.
The drama ended about 4 p.m. when the lion came out from under the building and entered the cage. Before the performance, a poodle belonging to one of the performers was found dead in the lions* cage, and circus workers believe this had upset the animals.
The owner of the dead poodle, Mrs Michelle Norton, said she believed the dog had been deliberately killed and placed in the cage.
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Press, 31 January 1986, Page 1
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203Lions caught after 2 hours Press, 31 January 1986, Page 1
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