Lion escapes and swims to school

A lion that escaped from its cage in a Chinese zoo went for a swim in a local river.

Staff at the People's Park in Rudong of eastern China's Jiangsu province forgot to lock the cage when they finished cleaning the den.

The lion, a 4-year-old male, jumped into the river in the park and swam with the currents for nearly 400 metres before it tried to climb up into the campus of Rudong Shiyan Elementary School.



"Originally we thought it's a big dog or buffalo something in the water, never expecting it to be a giant and furious lion," said an eye witness.

Police evacuated local residents and ordered the school not to let students out of their classrooms.

After three anaesthetic shots, the lion was calmed and swam into a cage lowered into the water.