Lion escapes unlicensed mini-zoo near Prague, shot dead by police

A lion escaped its enclosure at the mini-zoo in the town of Zvole on Saturday. Following an altercation with the zookeeper, the animal was fatally shot on site by police. The mini-zoo operates in a legal grey area, and has run into trouble with authorities over runaway animals before.

Photo: Česká televize, ČT24 / Novinky.cz

Around 8pm on Saturday evening, police was alerted about a fugitive lion who had dug his way under the fence of his enclosure at the mini-zoo in Zvole, a satellite town just south of Prague. Park owner and zookeeper Tomáš Macháč supposedly sustained light injuries as a result.

The lion weighed roughly 350kg, and was described as undomesticated and potentially dangerous in the emergency phone call. Responding officers, only equipped with regular duty pistols shot the lion once it began charging towards them and posed an imminent threat, according to the official police statement.

Photo: Česká televize, ČT24

In the only available reaction to the incident, Macháč told reporters over the fence of the park in Zvole, that the lion’s death is a “huge tragedy” for himself and his family. The mini-zoo also cancelled all scheduled visits on Sunday

State authorities now begin investigation into the incident as a possible case of public endangerment through negligence, but also the very endangerment of animals kept at the facility. Spokesman of the State Veterinary Administration, Petr Vorlíček, sheds light on the legal details:

Photo: Česká televize, ČT24

“If an animal is not secured against escape, it is a violation of the law on the Protection of Animals against Acts of Cruelty. The mini-zoo has been problematic on previous occasions. In the past, there was a case of an escaped puma. Then there was even a case of the zookeeper being bitten by a poisonous snake,” he says.

Zvole Zoo near Prague (2022)|Photo: Karolína Burdová, Czech Radio

The mini-zoo has, in fact, been faced with two cases of escaped pumas. In 2017, a puma kitten fled the ground and was found in the neighbouring town of Vrané nad Vltavou. A year later, an adult male was on the loose for two days before being captured and returned to the park.

After ensuing investigations, the park lost permits for its enclosures in 2019. The regional Building Authority found that they were built illegally. According to the independent mayor of Zvole, Miroslav Stoklasa, the mini-zoo nonetheless continued operating, due to concerns over the animals:

“The Building Authority in Jesenice does not have the resources to secure the animals just so that they can remove the buildings. I cannot imagine a regular official, who comes to remove the unlicensed buildings, releasing these animals into the forest. That's simply not possible,” he says.

Photo: Česká televize, ČT24

Prague Zoo, the nearest of Czechia’s large zoological gardens, has reportedly rejected the mayor’s advances to take the animals on board. Many individuals, such as the lion, do not genetically correspond to the animals being kept in the capital.

The owner, intent on keeping the animals regardless of the adequacy of their enclosures, can rely on the verdict of the Czech Environmental Inspectorate, who also investigated the park. According to spokeswoman Miriam Loužická, a licence is not necessary for this type of establishment:

“From the point of view of the Act on Zoological Gardens, the park is currently not operated as a zoo, but as a breeding and conservation facility for wild animals, which is legally allowed to keep less than twenty species of wild mammals and birds. The facility in Zvole indeed houses fewer than twenty species of animals. These animals are exhibited to the public free of charge, or for a voluntary contribution, and visits only take place in the form of a guided tour. The law allows the operation of such a facility and does not require a license,” she explains.

Photo: Česká televize, ČT24

The lion was acquired by the mini-zoo as a cub, and was generally well-behaved according to the park’s neighbours, who regret the animal’s death. They too remark that many fences and enclosures, even those housing harmless animals, could use a fix-up.