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A fully grown male lion terrified residents in a quiet Italian town after it escaped from a circus and prowled the streets for hours after dark.
The fearsome animal, called Kimba, spent about six hours stalking the streets of Ladispoli, a town north of Rome, before it was tranquillised and recaptured.
Officials were investigating how the animal escaped on Sunday (AEDT), amid reports that there had been an act of “sabotage” and that the animal’s cage had been opened deliberately, perhaps by animal welfare activists.
A police helicopter tracked Kimba using infrared cameras while locals filmed the predator on their phones from their homes and vehicles.
Footage taken by one woman shows Kimba nonchalantly making its way down an empty street and at one point appearing to glance in her direction. “Mamma mia,” the woman says.
Another resident filmed the lion as it strode past their car.
Police, firefighters, vets and council officials took part in the hunt for the lion. A stretch of nearby highway, the Via Aurelia, was closed as a precautionary measure.
“Important notice!” the mayor of the town, Alessandro Grando, posted on his Facebook account. “A lion has escaped from a circus in Viale Mediterraneo. Please be on maximum alert and avoid moving around the town.”
The animal took refuge in a thicket of canes before wandering the streets of the town. Once located, it was shot with a sedative dart and returned to the circus.
“The lion has been sedated and captured,” Mr Grando announced.
Rony Vassallo, the owner of the circus, said the lion was in good health.
The incident has prompted an impassioned debate about whether it is appropriate for circuses to be allowed to keep such large wild animals.
Many Italians feel that the concept of circuses displaying wild animals and making them perform in front of audiences is outdated and should be banned.
The mayor insisted that he did not have the authority to block the circus from coming to Ladispoli.
“I didn’t authorise it because it’s not up to me,” he said. “Unfortunately, we cannot ban circuses with animals coming to our town. We tried to do it in 2017 but we lost the case in court and we even had to pay damages.
“Until the law changes, we won’t be able to do anything. I hope this episode will rouse people’s consciences and help finally put an end to the exploitation of animals in circuses.”
An animal rights group, the International Organisation for Animal Protection, said the escape showed the “danger posed by circuses with wild animals to public safety, and above all the harm suffered by animals kept in captivity and used in these spectacles”.
The organisation called for circuses with wild animals to be banned in Italy, saying that acrobats and clowns could be just as entertaining.
The Telegraph, London
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