Inquiry under way at Belfast zoo after worker ‘locked in enclosure with lions’
16 August 2024, 08:11 | Updated: 16 August 2024, 08:28
An inquiry is under way after a worker got "locked in" a lion enclosure at Belfast zoo.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Belfast Zoo is home to a pride of Barbary lions., with one male lion named Qays and two females, Fidda and Theibba.
The person involved was over the age of 18 and was at the zoo "in a training capacity", BBC News NI reported.
The incident happened when two workers entered the enclosure while the lions were in their den.
One worker, believed to be the more experienced of the pair, left the enclosure and locked it, leaving the lions free to roam and their colleague trapped inside.
It is not known how long the person was trapped in the enclosure.
In a statement, Belfast City Council said it is aware of the incident at the lion enclosur earlier this month.
"We take the safety of all our staff, visitors and animals very seriously, and an investigation is under way into the circumstances of this incident,"
"We cannot comment further while this is ongoing."
The incident was also reported to the Health and Safety Executive.
The Barbary lion, also known as the Atlas lion, was one of the largest and most powerful lion subspecies.
Known for its large size, the Barbary lion was one of the biggest lion subspecies, with males weighing up to 600 pounds and stretching up to 10.5 feet in length.
They are known for their dark, thick manes that extended over the shoulder and onto the belly.
Due to hunting and habitat loss, the Barbary lion was driven to extinction in the wild by the early 20th century, with the last known wild individual believed to have been killed in Morocco in 1942.
Today, a few descendants of Barbary lions may still exist in captivity, particularly in some European zoos, but they are generally considered to be hybrids.
