Lioness shot dead after escaping from tourist farm in North Gyeongsang

A lion that escaped a tourist farm in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang, on Monday. [GYEONGBUK FIRE SERVICE HEADQUARTERS]

A lioness was shot dead an hour after escaping from a farm in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang, the county said.
 
It said an emergency call placed at 7:24 a.m. on Monday reported a lioness had escaped from a tourist farm in Deokgok-myeon, Goreyeong County.
 
The county alerted its residents of the escape and began a search mission.
 
A total of 159 people were dispatched to search for the lion. 
 
The search team located the lion hiding behind a bush just 4 to 5 meters away from the farm an hour later. It was then shot dead.

 
The tourist farm had been open since February 2022. The lion was raised without the proper license, as the farm was only authorized to raise livestock.
 
The Goryeong County office stated that while there had been a zoo, it wasn't aware of the farm raising a lion. The office plans to thoroughly investigate how the farm started raising the lion.
 
However, it has come to light that many of the visitors who stayed at a nearby campsite, just 300 meters away from the farm, were aware of the lion's presence.
 
The lion had been living in a small steel cage with a container box at the back. Additionally, the farm also raises deer.

The lion after it was shot dead, an hour after escaping a tourist farm in Goryeong County, North Gyeongsang, on Monday. [GYEONGBUK FIRE SERVICE HEADQUARTERS]

 

BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]