OSAKA, JAPAN — “A lion escaped!” a staff in Tennoji Zoo shouted aloud to warn others about an escaped lion from its cage after an earthquake hit Osaka City.
Although the “furry lion” looked dorky and adorable, a zookeeper was bitten by the “lion”, and the “fierce beast” even took time roaming around the zoo compound, sitting at the bench, and even smart enough to play with the vehicles in the zoo.
Apparently, this is an emergency drill which took place at Tennoji Zoo in Osaka City three weeks ago (24 Nov).
According to NHK Japan, the objective of the drill was to prepare the zoo staff for the possible aftermath caused by the major Nankai Trough earthquake.
The assumed earthquake occurred at 10 am morning and that shaking with a seismic intensity of lower than 6 was observed in Tennoji Ward.
The staff from the zoo immediately patrolled its premises after the earthquake hit, searching for injured victims and assessing the damage.
But there are bigger issues they need to worry about — such as a dangerous “apex predator” escaped from its cage and attacked a zookeeper:
Putting effort into making the drill “realistic”
The other zoo staff soon execute protocol responses to the escaped wild beast. First they drove the lion to the wall with a shield and stick, and later a veterinarian shot a tranquillizer gun at the lion, finally sedating the dangerous beast.
The zookeepers had put great effort into ensuring the drill was as “realistic” as possible. A male worker costumed himself as the lion, and about 50 of the zoo’s staff, along with fire department officers and volunteers, participated in the drill.
Large-scale natural disasters are a frequent and common occurrence in Japan. Public or private agencies in Japan regularly held earthquake drills to beef up communities’ preparedness and resilience against any possible outcome when a disaster occurred.
