Failures left staff at risk of lion attack
A Wellington Zoo keeper is being hailed a hero after a series of institutional failures led to colleagues working with three agitated lionesses being in a barely secured area nearby.
More details of the August 2018 nearmiss have now come to light, showing zoo chief executive Karen Fifield believed it could have been ‘‘the worst zoo incident in New Zealand’’ while a colleague reckoned it could have been the worst in the world.
Fifield found out about the August 15 incident only five days after it happened and immediately ordered sweeping changes to how dangerous animals were dealt with at the zoo. The zoo has stressed public were not in danger but refused to say how many staff were.
Keepers were working to move male lions Zulu and Malik to the Auckland Zoo. Lionesses Djane, Zahra and Djembe were in a separate area with only a slam-shut catch stopping them getting into the area where staff were working on the sedated male lions.
Latches weren’t pushed across, and padlocks were hanging away, an incident investigation – supplied under an Official Information Act request – shows. Logs show the gates were opened at 9.01am and the issue was noticed and fixed at 2pm.
Wellington Zoo has been asked to confirm this timeline. While it did not do this it said the zoo keeper noticed and fixed the problem ‘‘shortly after the padlocks were overlooked’’.
The report showed that standard procedures were not followed, staff were not trained to check locks, trust trumped double-checking, and the unlocked door was walked past a number of times before being noticed. Timely reporting to a manager also failed.
A zoo worker there on the day, who
Stuff agreed not to name, said there were hours the female lions could have had easy access to an area where up to 20 staff worked. The zoo disputed this number, but would not give details.
The zoo worker who spotted the unlocked gate, then quietly shut it, likely saved lives and was hailed as a hero by some of her co-workers, the source said.
‘‘Everyone who knew about it thanked [the woman] for saving their lives.’’
The lionesses were clearly agitated and were growling while cooped in the small cage, the source said. The 120-150kg lionesses could have easily broken the slam-shut catch and got into the area with zoo staff.
The report featured interviews with multiple staff, including the person who was meant to ensure the relevant doors were locked.
‘‘I understand that it was my error that resulted in [redacted] being placed into a potentially very dangerous situation with lionesses accessing a den that was not fully secured,’’ the worker is quoted in the report.
The worker who fixed the problem said she noticed both padlocks on the den door were hanging away and both latches were in an open position, but the door was not ajar.
‘‘I held on to the den door while talking to [lionesses] Djane and Djembe on the other side, pushed both latches across, and then locked both padlocks.’’
Fifield was in Auckland on the day and was not told of it until August 20. The reason for the delay is not known.
She ordered a review of the incident, and oversaw sweeping changes to how dangerous animals were handled.