Escaped lion shot dead in South Korea

The lion was discovered in a forest near the farm.

GYEONGSANG NORTH FIRE FORCE

A lioness was shot dead by authorities after she escaped from a private tourist animal farm in South Korea, Yonhap news agency reported.

Police received a report at 7:23 a.m. on August 14 about the lion escaping from its cage in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang Province, 233 kilometers southeast of Seoul. About an hour later, police and hunters found the animal in a forest near the farm and shot it.

According to the farm owner, a manager discovered the back door of the lion's cage was unlocked and the animal was gone when the employee came to feed it and clean the cage.

The manager immediately notified the farm owner to call the police. The district government sent out an emergency text message alerting residents to the escaped lion and dispatched police and firefighters to locate the animal.

A team of 159 police, fire and hunters from the county were dispatched to the area. When they spotted it, the lion did not run away but remained sitting or walking around.

However, the authorities decided to shoot the animal because it was in a position where it could run into residential areas, and using a tranquilizer gun would take time for the animal to take effect. According to the hunters, two shots were used to kill the lion.

The animal after being shot down

SCREENSHOT THE KOREA TIMES

The farm was designated as a tourist animal farm by Goryeong County in February 2022. Officials said the farm had been licensed to raise livestock, but had been illegally raising lions.

According to a district official, not even the local residents or the village chief knew that the farm was secretly raising lions. It is reported that the farm owner started raising lions when he bought the facility.

The farm owner said he had contacted the environmental agency and a zoo to ask them to take the animal, but both had refused. He said the previous owner had raised the lioness since she was a cub about 20 years ago and that she had even let him pet her.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/su-tu-song-chuong-bi-ban-ha-tai-han-quoc-185230814144702013.htm