Our Zoo is Cool. Now Featuring Live Lion Feedings

A baby deer, probably from Rock Creek Park next to the National Zoo in Washington DC, jumped into the Lion’s Pen. The lions took good care of it too. Listen to the idiots screaming and rooting for the suicidal deer.

From the WaPo here:

A deer that jumped a wall at the National Zoo was fatally injured by two lions Sunday as dozens of startled spectators looked on.

It began about 2:50 p.m. as visitors lined the perimeter wall of an enclosure that contained two female lions, and it involved a deer that may have entered from Rock Creek Park.

“Everyone was cheering, ‘Go, go, go’ ” to encourage the deer to reach safety, witness Josh Shpayher said. “Everyone was rooting for the deer.”

As recounted by witnesses, the deer, over as much as 20 minutes, was in and out of a moat while the lions clutched, clawed or swatted it. A crowd of spectators grew. Some shrieked, cried out or took children away.

Zoo personnel sent visitors away and got the lions indoors. With the enclosure empty, the deer left the moat on its own. It was anesthetized and taken for evaluation by specialists.

They found it “pretty evident” that the deer “would not survive,” and it was euthanized, Baker-Masson said.

An examination indicated that besides head and neck scratches, the deer had a serious wound on its belly.

I think the lions should have been allowed to eat a fresh meal. Sound cruel? Not as cruel as deliberately throwing goats to the lions like they do in China.