History repeated itself in Singapore on Sunday the 12th of December as two full grown lions thought to be part of a pride of seven lions escaped from their container in Changi airport while in transit to some “overseas facility”.
One of them was found laying on its travel crate.
“A stand off ensued” at the Changi Airpot, the Strait Times, newspaper reported. This led to sedating the animals with a tranquilliser gun. They were then taken to the care of the Singapore zoo and are recovering from the effects of being sedated.
Commenting on the need for the lions to be sedated, a representative from the Mandai Wildlife Group which is in charge of managing the Singapore Zoo and which was contacted by the Singapore Airlines (SIA) stated that “the sedation was required in order for the vets to safely transport the big cats to their facility in the North of the state and that all Lions have recovered adequately from the anaesthesia.” “Our veterinary and quarantine teams are closely monitoring the animals, making sure they are comfortabke” they further added
Questions about the circumstances surrounding the shipment of the lions were only met by the response of the spokesperson of the Singapore Airlines (SIA) who restated earlier made comments that the lions “remained secured by the safety netting that was around the container during the entire time”
SIA’s spokesperson also added that “while the incident is being investigated, the immediate priority is the well-being of the lions”. The airline also added that there was no disruption to its operations. Nevertheless there were no clarifications as to where the carnivores were coming from or where their destination was.
Singapore is known to be a major conveyance point for wildlife trafficking in Southeast Asia consequently its being named by the global wildlife trade monitoring network TRAFFIC as being one of the world’s top ten illegal smuggling axis.
As far apart and rare as the incidents have being, Singapore tends to have a record of exotic animals breaking free from their various enclosures. In 2004 Ramba the chimpanzee drowned in the Upper Seletar Reservoir after escaping from its cage in the Singapore zoo.
In 2005 about 500 visitors were evacuated from the zoo after Angel, a jaguar escaped through its feeding tube. It was however sedated and recaptured half an hour later. In the same year an African Wild Cat strayed off the stage at the Night Safari during an animal show.
Ms Lin from Beijing was attacked by the wild cat, leaving her with a bleeding and swollen right foot.
2014 saw an African Wild Dog escaping from its confines which lead to a temporary closure of the zoo’s front entrance while the zookeepers hunted down the Wild Dog half an hour later.
