Since nobody in the Washington, D.C. area wants to talk about the latest Redskins’ loss, the big news of the day around here was the deer who got into the lions’ den at the National Zoo:
A deer that jumped a wall at the National Zoo was fatally injured by two lions Sunday as dozens of startled spectators looked on.
Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson described the incident as highly unusual. It began about 2:50 p.m. as visitors lined the perimeter wall of an enclosure that contained two female lions, and it involved a deer that may have entered from Rock Creek Park.
“Everyone was cheering, ‘Go, go, go’ ” to encourage the deer to reach safety, witness Josh Shpayher said. “Everyone was rooting for the deer.”
As recounted by witnesses, the deer, over as much as 20 minutes, was in and out of a moat while the lions clutched, clawed or swatted it. A crowd of spectators grew. Some shrieked, cried out or took children away.
The incident began, said witness Rob Ephraim, when the deer “ran between people” at the railing of the low wall around the sunken enclosure.
“It was running and it leaped,” he said. After a hoof apparently clipped the railing, the deer plunged into the green, leaf-strewn water of the moat at the bottom of the wall. One lion went in after the deer and “jumped on it,” Ephraim said.
The deer escaped, “then [got] caught again,” Ephraim said.
As the episode neared its end, one lion dragged the deer to a stairwell area. The deer, a female, broke free and bounded toward the moat, the lion in pursuit.
Zoo personnel sent visitors away and got the lions indoors. With the enclosure empty, the deer left the moat on its own. It was anesthetized and taken for evaluation by specialists.
They found it “pretty evident” that the deer “would not survive,” and it was euthanized, Baker-Masson said.
And, of course, someone shot video and put it up on YouTube (Warning: Not Safe for Children or people with weak stomachs):
November 9th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
So are you saying that life is NOT like a Disney cartoon?
November 9th, 2009 at 4:43 pm
Where’s Marlin Perkins when you need him?
You know, for the running commentary…..
November 9th, 2009 at 4:47 pm
A perfect lesson in natural selection.
November 10th, 2009 at 12:24 am
Would love to know what zoo personnel were doing for 20 minutes while this was going on?