Escaped circus lioness shot dead by Chinese police ‘after failing to find tranquiliser gun in time’
Animal killed while roaming only 300 metres from a service station crowded with customers in city of Suzhou after escaping from cage while being transported by van
Chinese police shot dead an escaped circus lioness on Monday night after firing at least 20 shots when it was spotted roaming close to a petrol station packed with customers, mainland media reports.
We fired so many shots because we needed to be sure that it was dead
Suzhou city police said they were forced to kill the animal because it was a danger to the public and they would not have been able to find a tranquiliser gun quickly enough, Anhui News reported on Wednesday.
A frightened truck driver, identified only by his surname, Zhou, alerted police after his vehicle struck the animal when it ran out in front of him as he was driving to the service station at 10pm on Monday in Suzhou, in Anhui province.
He stayed inside the truck and rang emergency services after watching the lioness stand up and limp away.
Highway police arrived to find the lioness walking along the highway only 500 metres from the service station, which was packed with people eating and filling up their vehicles with petrol.
They immediately evacuated people from the station, while several others locked themselves inside the building, Anhui News said.