2 Lions Recaptured After Brief Freedom
Two lions that escaped Sunday morning from an animal compound near Sylmar were found several hours later under a nearby bush and were recaptured by compound workers and sheriff’s deputies.
Sheba and Zambi fled from the Wild Life Way Station in Little Tujunga Canyon before noon when heavy winds tore loose a 13-foot-high compound gate that smashed open their cage, said Martine Colette, founder and director of the way station.
When the cage broke open, Sheba, Zambi and two other lions inside fled in fear, Colette said. The others remained in the compound, she said, but Sheba and Zambi ran a couple hundred yards and hid under a bush.
“They were scared. They did not want to leave the ranch,” Colette said. “There was never any danger to anybody.”
Colette said that because the lions were born in captivity, they fear the wild and wanted nothing more than to get back to their cage.
At about 3 p.m., compound workers shot the pair with tranquilizer darts and returned them to cages.
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