Deer Jumps Into Lion Cage At DC Zoo (VIDEO): Animal Escapes, But Is Put Down

A wild deer jumped into the lion enclosure at the National Zoo in Washington D.C. on Sunday and inspired onlookers as it fought to escape from the big cats. However, despite breaking free, the Washington Post reports that the animal had to be euthanized. The deer had a serious wound on its belly.

According to the zoo's spokeswoman, the young female deer jumped a 3 1/2- to 4-foot retaining wall and landed in a moat surrounding the enclosure. It was then attacked by two female lions. Video of the encounter that has been posted to YouTube shows the deer escaping from one of the cats and jumping back into the moat.

The Washington Post reports that more than 100 zoo guests were at the enclosure at the time of the attack and a witness said people were shouting "Go! Go! Go!" and that "everyone was rooting for the deer."

WATCH:

Comments

[H321]

12:05 AM on 12/07/2009

aww baby! Poor thing.

[bpafree]

10:05 PM on 11/11/2009

For the deer to have navigated through the DC streets without getting hit or mugged, just to jump into a lion's den @ the zoo is an animal Greek tragedy.

[FredDerf]

10:35 PM on 11/11/2009

No need to go on any streets. The Zoo sits astride Rock Creek Park which if my memory serves me is the largest city park in the country. Google Earth "National Zoo DC" and take a look.

[imworking4me]

09:35 PM on 11/11/2009

Finally! Live entertainm­ent in the lions' den!!

[GorillaThriller]

07:28 PM on 11/11/2009

Tigers love water!

[GorillaThriller]

07:30 PM on 11/11/2009

Sorry, that was supposed to be a reply to another comment.

[KIVPossum]

03:34 PM on 11/11/2009

That had to be embarrassi­ng to the lioness - hundreds of people watching and she lets a fawn get away.

[imworking4me]

09:41 PM on 11/11/2009

Out of practice, no doubt.

[SigonellaPC3]

01:55 PM on 11/11/2009

Whew. Oh this was at a zoo? I thought I was watching Air America escape the quash of free speech by Neocon influence.­..

[Voltage]

01:04 PM on 11/11/2009

I've learned something today. I never knew lions couldn't swim.

[PeteBogs]

01:35 PM on 11/11/2009

Surely you know cats can't stand water?

[KIVPossum]

03:31 PM on 11/11/2009

They can swim, but only when absolutely necessary.

[highground]

12:38 PM on 11/11/2009

that's classic people cheering against the natural order of things. they should shout like this the next time their husbands and sons go out on the next hunting trip.

or better yet not eat the slaughter their loved ones bring back from the hunt.

[DinkSinger]

06:34 PM on 11/11/2009

Only five per cent of Americans hunt. Most of the other 95% root for the animals, not the hunters.

[Thumperdumper]

08:55 PM on 11/11/2009

I slaughtere­d some carrots and broccoli today. Yumm! Tomorrow I'm gonna hunt down some spinach and tomatos.

[TruelyFedUp]

10:50 AM on 11/11/2009

The Cats who Stare at Deer?

[Progressiveama]

10:28 AM on 11/11/2009

I am a liberal and not understand the disconnect between "peaceful people" and animal rights. Why can't we go without caging animals that do not want to be caged? Why do we love one animal but buy fur that came from Chinese tortured animals? I just don't get it.

[EdWhite1]

04:05 PM on 11/10/2009

I love the people who are horrified by this - its called NATURE. Predators hunt and try to kill prey animals. We've forgotten what happens in nature. They dont all live together like a disney film folks. Your kids got a good lesson in life at the zoo that day.

[runner 08]

10:36 AM on 11/11/2009

One word: CAGED.

That's a whole different picture.

[XME]

09:04 PM on 11/11/2009

I may be nature, but that doesn't mean people want SEE an animal fight for it's life...tho­ugh for those who do, I suppose that's HUMAN NATURE, sadly.

[peacechants]

12:45 PM on 11/10/2009

Cats of all sizes love to play with their prey items. My kitten even pretends little pieces of chicken liver are still alive, tossing and chasing them around. IMHO this was a flaw in enclosure design - any deer could easily jump over a four foot wall between the exhibits.
Similarly, some humans have made unfortunat­e choices about entering predator enclosures at the zoo. The most memorable was SF Chronicle editor Phil Bronstein'­s 2001 birthday present from his wife Sharon Stone - a pass to enter the Komodo dragon cage at the LA zoo. Nobody from the zoo told Phil not to wear white sneakers around an eight-foot lizard regularly fed with white rats.

[emerson7]

12:08 PM on 11/10/2009

lol...just like so many of us, we wouldn't know the first thing about actually catching a meal, and once caught, still wouldn't know what to do with it. and that goes for animal AND vegetable prey in this fish stick-fren­ch fry society.

[CraigR]

04:48 PM on 11/10/2009

"vegetable prey"? LOL

[GO-BAMA]

11:50 AM on 11/10/2009

Clearly, these lions have not been reading the "living" section at H P.

Why root for the deer? When was the last time those lions got some excitement like that? I would've been rooting for them.

[TainoBoy]

11:49 AM on 11/10/2009

Ms. Lioness, almost doesn't count..