Kimba's gentle prowl - 24th November 2023

Circus lion Kimba felt inspired to go for a night stroll in the town of Ladispoli in Italy. Escaping the circus, the lion sauntered the abandoned streets, much to the consternation of locals like Gerardo Guarino.

Gerardo Guarino: "The news scared me a bit - a lion, on the loose. I called my wife and said there's a lion around so be careful, in fact if you come home it's better."

The eight year old lion's quiet Saturday night stroll abruptly ended after five hours when he was captured and sedated by a team of police,vets and circus staff who had been tracking him. He was safely returned to his circus cage to rejoin his siblings. Nevertheless, the lion in question seems none the worse for his adventure.

Rony Vassallo, caretaker of the animals at the Rony Roller Circus, had no fear of Kimba doing anything untoward.

Rony Vassallo: "I can understand, for a normal person to find a lion - for me it's normal. In fact, I didn't have any fear that he might do something because he's an animal who is used to people, used to other animals."

Familiar with the general perception of lions, Vassallo was more apprehensive of Kimba getting hurt. Ladispoli local Barbara Rosolino found Kimba's gentle nature disarming.

Barbara Rosolino: "Yes I was a little scared but afterwards from the images, from the videos you could see that he was so good."

Kimba's only one of 9 big cats who were born and bred in captivity that perform at the circus alongside elephants, camels and horses. Even though it's perfectly legal to use exotic animals in circus acts according to Italian law, Ladispoli's mayor has seized the opportunity to call for measures to be implemented to end this practice.

Amidst all the commotion, Kimba's safely basking in the afterglow of his night on the tiles.