5 lions briefly escape zoo enclosure in Sydney

Lions at the Taronga Zoo.

Taronga Zoo is trying to ascertain how one adult lion and four cubs escaped their enclosure for a short while, albeit without escaping confinement altogether. Overnight guests had to be rushed to safety.

A pride of lions escaped for a short while from their enclosure at Sydney's Taronga Zoo early on Wednesday. 

Zoo authorities issued a "code one" alert and rushed guests of its "Roar and Snore" overnight stay program to safety. Police were also called to the zoo. 

Video footage showed four cubs and one adult lion outside their enclosure around 6:30 am. They were still within a contained area after clearing their first barrier, separated from the rest of the zoo by a fence roughly the height of a man.

Emergency response was enacted in less than 10 minutes, and the animals were back in their enclosure by 9 a.m., said the zoo.

One of the cubs had to be tranquilized, while the rest returned by themselves. There were no injuries to people or animals during the incident. 

"The zoo has very strict safety protocols in place for such an incident and immediate action was taken," Taronga Zoo Executive Director Simon Duffy told a news conference.

"They came running into the tent area saying, 'this is a Code One, get out of your tent and run, come now and leave your belongings'," Magnus Perri, one of the overnight guests, told local media.

Taronga is Sydney's largest zoo, and hosts seven lions, including two adults and five cubs. There was no information on how the animals escaped. A formal review has been launched.

tg/msh  (AP, Reuters) - DW News