What's new

CWOA - Lions nom escaped baby Binturong

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/ne ... nture.html

FAMILIES watched in horror as two lions tore apart a baby animal that escaped from its enclosure.

The cute binturong - also called a bearcat - was one of a pair to climb a tree before dropping into the big cat den at Chessington World of Adventure.

Jason Harcombe, visiting with his two-year-old son Oscar, said: "The poor animal didn't stand a chance. The lions jumped on it straight away and killed it.

"The lioness brought the body up to the glass and then she and her mate just ripped it apart in front of us."

The other binturong died shrieking in a bush, hidden from view of the public.

Jason, 32, added: "There must have been about 20 people standing around. It was a really distressing thing to see."

Bosses at the Surrey zoo and theme park are investigating.

A spokesman said: "Before it was discovered the young binturong had escaped they had ventured into the Asiatic lions' enclosure."

He said the remaining binturongs had been moved to the monkey and bird garden.



[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vX07j9SDFcc[/youtube]
 

nadroJ

CF Legend
Hahaha, imagine all the screaming children XD Oh well, it's not like this doesn't happen in nature ALL the time. I don't mean the binturong being eaten by Asiatic lions specifically, but cute things often get ripped apart and eaten by big scary carnivores, as Benin put, circle of life.

Still, lol.

Edit: AHAHAHAHA the photo! XD
 

Hyde

Matt SR
Staff member
Moderator
Social Media Team
So sad, especially when the Binturong is the mascot of my University! (Bearcats) :lol:
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
Shame the kids saw it, but meh... Let the little **** see, it's real life.

:)
 

Nemesis Inferno

Strata Poster
Just seen the Daily Mirror article...

Toddler Oscar Harcombe was buzzing with excitement as he arrived at the lions’ enclosure – but seconds later he was in floods of tears.

The two-year-old watched in horror as the pride of snarling lions killed and devoured two baby animals at the Chessington World of Adventures zoo.

The cuddly-looking binturongs – which live in trees like monkeys and resemble raccoons – had escaped from their enclosure and were ripped apart by the big cats.

Oscar was with his shocked gran and dad Jason when they saw the animals being eaten alive.

Jason, 32, said: “Oscar was really upset, as anyone would be witnessing two baby animals mauled by a pack of lions. It was horrific.

“The binturong stood no chance at all – the lions were tearing them apart. Oscar was crying his eyes out.”

Minutes after the zoo had opened for the day, Jason took his family to the Trail of the Kings enclosure to see the rare Asiatic lions.

He said: “When we got there we spotted the two baby binturong. They had escaped and were climbing on the lion cage.

“Before we even had the chance to alert the keepers the lions snatched the animals and killed them.

“It happened right in front of my mother and young son. And they were horrified.” Jason says a zoo keeper admitted that the binturongs – which are endangered – were being held in a temporary enclosure and should have been moved.

The family complained and say they were told they would have to leave if they wanted a refund or tickets for another day – before they were escorted off the premises at the zoo and theme park in South West London.

Jason, from Dorking in Surrey, said: “We were treated like we’d done something wrong. The customer service was shocking.

“We have no desire to go back to Chessington after what we witnessed there.

“Oscar was really upset and kept asking what had happened to the animals.

“We just hope he forgets about it over time.”

Chessington bosses apologised yesterday for the distress the attack caused to its visitors.

The company said in a statement: “Despite the best efforts from our zoo team, regrettably the binturong did not survive.

“This is an unfortunate incident which Chessington is taking very seriously, but at no point were members of the public or staff at risk.

“Our zoo team, particularly the keepers, are very distressed by this event.

“We are very sorry for any visitors who may have been upset by witnessing the incident. In light of this isolated incident we are undertaking a series of investigations, and changes will be implemented.”


Jesus, what died, a human or two baby animals? I expect this sort of thing from the Daily Mail... What a load of absolute bollocks...
 

Hixee

Flojector
Staff member
Administrator
Moderator
Social Media Team
"Bloody foreign lions. Coming 'ere, eatin' our animals... bloody typical!"
 

Dave

CF Legend
I bet each parent thought "If we get outraged enough we could write to a paper about how outraged we were and how traumatized the children are!"

But it's a lesson of how these lions are killers and will attack anything in their territory.
 

EnigmaHyena

Hyper Poster
Why would you demand a refund because of it though?I know the animal shouldn't have been able to escape but it's not like the park could really do anything about it. So what if little Oscar saw the lions voring a live animal?? I know he's only 2 but **** happens!! Just means he got to witness the Circle of Life without seeing the sugar-coated Disney explanation first!
 

madhjsp

Giga Poster
I can imagine I'd be shocked if I were there to witness this, but demanding refunds? That's a little over-dramatic. Hell I've even seen my tame house cats catch and kill squirrels and birds, and even decapitate a rabbit. It's just animals being animals.

The picture in the original link did make me kind of laugh though.
 

SaiyanHajime

CF Legend
The sad thing isn't that a lion killed two baby animals in front of kids, it's that the binturong's had escaped in the first place.

How... did they get out?

That's a huge safety concern for the public if wild animals are escaping from a zoo.
 

peep

CF Legend
Yeah I love the Binturongs so this is a massive shame but I just don't understand the general public's reaction to it. About an hour a go Chessington posted it's normal "we have an event over half term, who's coming?" sorta thing and two people posted something along the lines of "not with animals being able to escape from their enclosures".

Urgh, it's such a small incident, there was no way the park could have forseen it from happening. Though I do find myself asking "How did they get out?" The articles say they climbed a tree, but surely the enclosure still covers the trees, dunno, slightly puzzled.
 
Top