3 months ago
WASHINGTON, DC (WUSA) -- A young doe met a grisly fate Sunday afternoon at the National Zoo when it jumped into a lion yard, was attacked by two female lions and had to be euthanized.
National Zoo spokesperson Pamela Baker-Masson said the attack occurred at about 2:50 p.m. at the park on Connecticut Ave., Northwest. She said the doe apparently jumped over a 3 1/2- to 4-foot retaining wall at the lion habitat, landed in a moat of deep water, and was attacked when she reached the yard.
The doe managed to escape the lions and get back into the water. At that point two animal keepers got the lions into a secluded area. The doe then left the water and hid behind a tree.
"A vet anesthetized the deer with a dart from a distance to put her asleep and they evaluated her,"
Baker-Masson said. "They realized the deer was seriously injured and suffering...and would not survive, so the decision was made to euthanize her."
An unknown number of zoo visitors witnessed the attack before they were moved out of the area, Baker-Masson said. By 3:30 p.m., visitors were allowed to return to the area.
Baker-Masson said it's not unusual for deer and other animals to enter the zoo, but she couldn't recall a similar incident in her 2 1/2 years of working there.
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