Current:Home > MarketsEscaped circus lion captured after prowling the streets in Italy: "Very tense"-Angel Dreamer Wealth Society D1 Reviews & Insights
Escaped circus lion captured after prowling the streets in Italy: "Very tense"
View Date:2024-12-23 20:02:46
A lion prowled the streets of an Italian seaside town for several hours Saturday after escaping from a local circus, before being sedated and captured. The lion posed no threat to the public, his handler insisted Sunday, as campaigners called for Italy to ban wild animals in entertainment.
Residents of the seaside town of Ladispoli were told to stay indoors for more than five hours on Saturday evening while police, vets and circus staff tracked the lion, finally sedating and then capturing him.
Extraordinary videos published by Italian media, apparently taken by locals, showed the fully-grown lion with a shaggy mane walking through dark and deserted residential streets, padding past parked cars. The animal was also seen on infrared camera from a police helicopter.
But Rony Vassallo, who is responsible for the animals in the Rony Roller Circus, said that while the thought of confronting a lion would make most people fearful, eight-year-old Kimba posed little danger.
"He met with people in an environment he wasn't used to... and nothing happened, he didn't even for a second have the instinct to attack a person," he told AFP at the circus site.
He said his fear had been "that someone could have harm the animal, out of fear, or excess enthusiasm".
Nearby, not far from the red and white striped main tent where preparations were under way for the afternoon show, the newly captured lion paced inside his cage, occasionally roaring.
Vassallo said Kimba was only lightly sedated and woke up almost immediately, while examinations by vets had concluded he bore no ill-effects from his excursion.
But the handler, whose family runs the travelling circus, said they were all "very shaken and very tense" after the escape, which he believed was not an accident.
Vassallo said he personally checked on the cage an hour before the lion went walkabout, and "everything was in order".
He declined to comment on reports of sabotage, including that the lock was forced, saying an investigation was underway.
But he said it had never happened before and "it's very strange."
He showed how the door to the metal cage opens inwards, secured with a sliding bolt and a lightweight chain with a small padlock.
"He was scared out of his mind"
Kimba was born and raised in captivity, alongside his two brothers -- Zeus and Ivan -- and sister Maya.
They are among nine big cats at the circus, including tigers, while acts also involve elephants, camels, horses and even bison.
The circus has drawn the ire of animal rights campaigners, who say keeping such wild creatures is cruel.
More than 20 European countries have banned or heavily restricted the use of animals in circuses -- but Italy is not yet among them.
A law has been drafted but was this year delayed to 2024, according to the LAV campaign group, which estimates that just under 2,000 animals are held in circuses across Italy.
What happened in Ladispoli "highlights the dangers of circuses with animals from the point of view of public security", said animal rights group OIPA.
But it also highlighted "the discomfort of poor creatures forced into captivity for entertainment", it said.
Ladispoli mayor Alessandro Grando, who had warned residents to stay at home on Saturday, has also called for a change in the law.
"I hope that this episode can stir some consciences, and that we can finally put an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses," he wrote on Facebook.
But Vassallo said critics "don't know the reality of the facts, how animals are treated in circuses, of the checks that are carried out."
In a previous Facebook post, Vassallo wrote: "For those who will start asking: why do you still bring the circus with animals to Ladispoli? Why did the mayor authorize the circus? The answer is that I haven't authorized anything, it's not my responsibility to do it, and that unfortunately we can't forbid circuses with animals from coming to our city."
He said in 2017 the town tried to stop the circus from coming but lost the legal challenge and "had to reimburse the legal fees to the plaintiffs."
In the surrounding neighborhood, residents who spoke to AFP expressed support for the circus -- and seemed more concerned about the lion than public safety.
"I was a little bit scared but afterwards, from the images from the videos, you could see that he was so good," said Barbara Rosolino, 47.
"He wanted to go home anyway, you could see he was scared out of his mind."
The incident comes less than four months after authorities in Germany warned the public of a possible lioness on the loose on the edge of Berlin. However, a search turned up no sign of such a predator, and experts who analyzed a video concluded that it was likely a wild boar.
- In:
- Italy
veryGood! (925)
Related
- Mother of Man Found Dead in Tanning Bed at Planet Fitness Gym Details His Final Moments
- James Lewis, prime suspect in the 1982 Tylenol murders, found dead
- Southwest Airlines' holiday chaos could cost the company as much as $825 million
- Larry Nassar stabbed multiple times in attack at Florida federal prison
- Bluesky has added 1 million users since the US election as people seek alternatives to X
- Pritzker-winning architect Arata Isozaki dies at 91
- Madonna says she's on the road to recovery and will reschedule tour after sudden stint in ICU
- Flight fare prices skyrocketed following Southwest's meltdown. Was it price gouging?
- Reese Witherspoon's Daughter Ava Phillippe Introduces Adorable New Family Member
- New Arctic Council Reports Underline the Growing Concerns About the Health and Climate Impacts of Polar Air Pollution
Ranking
- The NBA Cup is here. We ranked the best group stage games each night
- Southwest Airlines apologizes and then gives its customers frequent-flyer points
- Bed Bath & Beyond warns that it may go bankrupt
- FBI looking into Biden Iran envoy Rob Malley over handling of classified material, multiple sources say
- Statue of the late US Rep. John Lewis, a civil rights icon, is unveiled in his native Alabama
- As Coal Declined, This Valley Turned to Sustainable Farming. Now Fracking Threatens Its Future.
- BP Pledges to Cut Oil and Gas Production 40 Percent by 2030, but Some Questions Remain
- Sarah Silverman sues OpenAI and Meta over copied memoir The Bedwetter
Recommendation
-
Democrat Janelle Bynum flips Oregon’s 5th District, will be state’s first Black member of Congress
-
Amazon CEO says company will lay off more than 18,000 workers
-
Bachelor Nation’s Kelley Flanagan Debuts New Romance After Peter Weber Breakup
-
Vanderpump Rules' Tom Sandoval Defends His T-Shirt Sex Comment Aimed at Ex Ariana Madix
-
Prominent conservative lawyer Ted Olson, who argued Bush recount and same-sex marriage cases, dies
-
Avoid these scams on Amazon Prime Day this week
-
Tidal-wave type flooding leads to at least one death, swirling cars, dozens of rescues in Northeast
-
After holiday week marred by mass shootings, Congress faces demands to rekindle efforts to reduce gun violence