Two Lions Cause Panic At Airport After Escaping From Their Cage

Panic gripped an airport in Singapore for a brief period after two lions that were part of a shipment escaped from a freight container. The animals were eventually shot with a tranquilizer gun and sedated, reports say.

The lions were being transported to an overseas facility from Singapore Changi Airport on Sunday. There were five other lions in the container, The Straits Times reported.

Singapore Airlines (SIA), which was handling the shipment, enlisted the help of Mandai Wildlife Group's veterinary and carnivore care teams to catch the runaway lions, one of which was seen sitting atop its cage at one point, the outlet reported.

It wasn't clear where the lions came from and where they were being transported. The SIA told The Straits Times that the cats were, however, inside the safety netting erected around the container the whole time.

The animals were shot with a tranquilizer gun and moved to a quarantine facility, T he New Zealand Herald reported.

"The lions are being monitored. They will remain in our care for the time being and we remain in close contact with SIA on the matter," a spokesman for the Mandai Wildlife Group told The Straits Times.

The incident did not disrupt airline operations. An SIA spokesperson told the outlet that the situation was being investigated.

"While the incident is being investigated, the immediate priority is the lions' well-being. SIA is working with Mandai Wildlife Group, which operates Singapore's only wildlife facility that is equipped to look after large carnivores, on this," the spokesperson said.

This is not the first case of wild carnivores breaking free from their enclosure.

A jaguar created quite a stir at a New Orleans zoo after it escaped from its habitat in 2018. The predator killed six other animals – four alpacas, one emu and a fox – after its escape. The zoo was briefly closed after the incident and was reopened when the jaguar was captured.

In 2019, a bull from the Lim Chu Kang farm in Singapore escaped from its premises and roamed free for at least 14 hours before it was captured.