An escaped circus lion was captured after roaming the heavily populated streets of a suburb of Rome on November 11th. The mayor of the town of Ladispoli, Alessandro Grando, confirmed the video on Facebook just before 10:30 PM (4:30 PM ET), only a few hours after the escape happened.
The effort to capture 8-year-old lion Kimba was a joint effort between Italy’s state police, local police, the Carabinieri military police force, and local volunteers. The mayor describes the experience as “hours of great learning.”
Their rescue efforts included shooting infrared video from a police helicopter. This technology helped them track Kimba, who was strolling around a grassy area. There were also cell phone videos, supposedly of the lion strolling quickly, but calmly, down a residential street. Despite the noise and commotion, the animal ignored cars and houses while showing no signs of aggression.
“He met with people in an environment he wasn’t used to … and nothing happened; he didn’t even for a second have the instinct to attack a person,” Rony Vassallo, Kimba’s handler at the Rony Roller Circus, said.
“I hope this episode can raise some conscience and that we can finally put an end to animal exploitation in circuses,” Mayor Grando said.
The use of live animals in circuses is still legal in Italy. However, it has been banned in more than 20 European countries. While lawmakers in the lower house of Italy’s parliament have passed a law that would ban live animals in circuses, it has not been implemented.
Kimba’s capture also comes hot on the heels of another suspected lion hunt in Germany a few months ago. The entire search was sparked by a grainy cell phone video that reportedly showed the escaped lion. But, after hundreds of officers searched for hours with thermal imaging cameras and helicopters, they turned up nothing. Eventually admitting that the footage more than likely showed a wild boar and not a lion.
You can watch some of Kimba’s great eascape in the video below:
