Taronga Zoo’s fence explanation for lion escape ridiculed

Sydney’s Taronga Zoo has been roasted online after revealing how five lions escaped their enclosure, sparking an emergency situation.

Taronga Zoo has been ridiculed after blaming an incident where five lions escaped their enclosures on a fence “integrity issue”.

An emergency situation was declared on Wednesday after one adult and four lion cubs were found outside their enclosure at the Sydney harbourside zoo at about 6.30am.

Staff and guests staying overnight as part of the zoo’s “Roar and Snore” program were directed to “run” to safe zones as a “code one” was activated.

Taronga Zoo confirmed at about 9am that the animals had been returned to their exhibit and that no staff or guests were injured.

It was later revealed a dodgy fence was to blame for the lions’ escape, with an initial review confirming an “integrity issue with a containment fence enabled five lions to temporarily exit their main exhibit”.

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Five lions escaped from their enclosure on Wednesday morning. Picture: William Tyson

However, some people appeared to be unimpressed with this explanation, taking to social media to blast the zoo.

One Twitter user took aim at the zoo’s wording, questioning whether an “integrity issue” really meant a fence had rotted or a hole had been found.

“Integrity issue with a containment fence” says Taronga Zoo’s preliminary investigation into lion escape….

Fancy words for… A gap? A hole? Something fell over? Rotted away?

— Heidi Murphy (@heidimur) November 2, 2022

Heard it all now...re lions escape at Taronga zoo. It was apparently “fence integrity issues”...why not just say they broke through the fence...😙

— Pauline J (@GandP007) November 3, 2022

“How about those Taronga Park lions exploiting the ‘integrity issue’ they encountered with the fence by wandering off, rather than reporting said ‘issue’ to the Zoo’s Integrity Committee? Is this a sackable offence?” one person wrote.

Another person joked the explanation may have meant someone forgot to shut the gate to the enclosure.

#tarongazoo Taronga officials said an initial review found "an integrity issue with a containment fence" allowed the lions to escape.
Does that translate to Who left the gate open?

— gerome n scarafaggio (@GScarafaggio) November 2, 2022

@tarongazoo: The lions escaped because of 'integrity issue with a containment fence'. So a fence broke?

— George Morgan (@georgemorgan54) November 2, 2022

Taronga Zoo confirmed a review of the holding area was under way and a full report was being prepared for the NSW Department of Primary Industries.

The zoo also revealed there were “no issues reported” with the fencing on Tuesday during the reported during the zookeepers’ daily perimeter checks.

“Safety is a top priority at Taronga, and this includes scheduled maintenance and inspections,” the zoo said in a statement.

“The fencing product is specially designed and engineered for zoo purposes and has been used in zoos across the world.

“The fence is maintained by specialist tradespeople and fencing technicians.”

Along with the review of the incident, Taronga Zoo also said it had commissioned an independent engineer to complete a “full review of the fence”.

Creator of the lion perimeter fence, Tensile Design and Construct, had a full page on their website dedicated to the fence design they were commissioned to complete at Taronga Zoo.

The website used to have a full page dedicated to the lion enclosure perimeter fence at Taronga Zoo. Picture: Tensile Design and Construct

On the page, which has now been removed, the company said it understood the need for “a very robust barrier that would provide maximum safety”.

The company said it used Webnet mesh to create a perimeter fence that was “transparent and lightweight but robust enough to resist a charging animal”.

Tensile’s managing director Peter Bottero told the ABC the company was “deeply concerned” to hear about the issue with the enclosure.

He said Tensile had a “very positive relationship” with Taronga Zoo.

Mr Bottero said the company could not comment on any potential cause for the integrity issue as an “investigation is under way and the facts are not confirmed”.

“We intend to continue to work with the Taronga Zoo team to help resolve things,” he said.

‘Digging marks’ inside lion exhibit

After the lions were accounted for, police were seen surveying the lion exhibit with staff, paying particular attention to a portion of the first containment fence.

Today host Karl Stefanovic said it appeared that workers were “trying to look for holes in the fences”.

“They seem to be tugging at some of those fences and various parts along the pretty large and high enclosures to try and ascertain exactly how they got out,” he said.

“They zeroed in on one particular part of the fence and they seemed to rectify that pretty quickly.”

Taronga Zoo is home to two adult lions and five cubs. Picture: Craig Greenhill

Police and zoo staff seen inside the lion enclosure. Picture: Channel 7

Stefanovic also noted that there seemed to be “digging marks or something in the dirt”.

“You can only think of the questions being asked right now,” he said.

“Like, how on earth there was a point in the fence where these lions were able to get out of that enclosure there. It looks so secure.”

A statement released by the zoo confirmed that there are “strict safety protocols in place for such an incident”.

“All persons on site were moved to safe zones and there are no injuries to guests or staff,” the statement said.

One lion cub had to be tranquillised, while the other four made their own way to where they were contained.

– with Jessica Wang