A lion escaped from the ‘Rony Roller’ circus in the Italian seaside town of Ladispoli, near Rome on Nov. 11, and sparked panic among local residents before being caught and sedated after a search that lasted around seven hours.
The 8-year-old lion, called Kimba, was spotted on the loose using infrared camera footage recorded by a police helicopter.
Many Ladispoli residents, after hearing that the the lion had been captured, went to see the lion at its enclosure. Kimba was brought back to the circus and locked up safely with the other lions in a circus cage.
“What happened is very strange,” the circus’s animal supervisor and trainer, Rony Vassallo said. “The lion got out, and there is an ongoing investigation because the dynamics are not clear. All we can say is that a lion does not have the ability to open a latch and break a lock.”
The travelling circus is scheduled to stay in Ladipsoli from Nov. 9 to 19.