Belfast zoo inquiry after worker ‘locked in enclosure with lions’

Belfast city council has launched an investigation after a worker at the city’s zoo was allegedly locked in an enclosure with lions.

The incident happened last week when two workers entered the enclosure while the pride of Barbary lions were in their den. One worker left the enclosure and locked it, leaving the lions free to roam and the colleague with nowhere to go, the Belfast Telegraph reported on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the council, which owns the zoo, said it was aware of an incident at the enclosure this month. “We take the safety of all our staff, visitors and animals very seriously and an investigation is under way into the circumstances of this incident. We cannot comment further while this is ongoing,” they said.

The individual who was left with the lions – for a duration that is unclear – was understood to be part of a Northern Ireland training scheme for young people and unemployed people aged 50 to 64, the Belfast Telegraph reported.

It quoted a source who expressed shock at the incident. “They are very lucky they weren’t killed or severely mauled and left with horrendous injuries. I can only imagine what was going through this poor person’s mind. I mean, how on earth did this happen?” the source said.

Robbie Butler, an Ulster Unionist assembly member who is the vice-chair of Stormont’s all-party group on animal welfare, urged the zoo to review its policies and procedures. He said: “Whilst the primary concern must be with the individual involved, it also raises concerns about animal welfare.”

In February a lion at a zoo in India mauled to death a man who had jumped into an enclosure. Last year a lion at a private zoo in Gaza killed a six-year-old boy who had reportedly climbed through a protective fence.