Dangerous Predators Escape German Zoo, Warning Issued Amid Search For Animals

Several dangerous wild animals have managed to break out of Lünebach Eifel Zoo in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on Friday after their enclosures were destroyed by a storm.

Joachim Streit, the district administrator of Bitburg-Prüm, said a bear, two tigers, two lions and a jaguar escaped from their enclosures. Following a search by a large contingent including hunters, fire brigade and veterinarians, the bear was found and shot.

The enclosures were partially submerged and became permeable due to a storm that hit the region Friday, a police spokeswoman in Trier said, Holzminden-based newspaper TAH reported.

Police has asked the population to stay indoors and report sighted animals to them.

The zoo, which is spread around 30 hectares, is home to 400 animals including about 60 exotic and native species. It was acquired in 1965 by the Cologne merchant Hans Wallpott and over the years, the zoo was expanded.

In a similar incident, two lions broke out of their enclosure at the Leipzig Zoo, Germany, in 2016, one of which was shot and other pushed back into the enclosure. The zoo was closed to the public when the incident took place.

In another incident in January, a wolf escaped from its enclosure for about six hours at the Wolf Conservation Trust's site in Beenham, England. The animal, named Torak, walked about eight miles before it was caught.

“I think somebody deliberately opened the gate. A lot of people don't particularly believe in having animals in captivity,” Teresa Palmer, founder of the sanctuary, said then.