Lion escapes from circus in Italy

A lion named Kimba ran away from a circus in Ladispoli in Italy. Scared residents stayed indoors while Kimba walked the streets.

Gerardo Guarino was worried about his wife.

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."

While Kimba went on an adventure, the police, vets and circus staff were searching for him. They spent five hours looking before they caught him. They returned him safely to the circus with his brothers and sisters.

Kimba was well behaved and didn't hurt anyone. Rony Vassallo takes care of the circus animals.

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."

At first, residents were frightened. But after seeing videos of Kimba's gentle personality, Barbara Rosolino became less worried.

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 grew up in the circus with 8 other big cats. The circus also includes elephants, camels and horses in its shows. In Italy, it isn't illegal to use exotic animals in circuses. But the Ladispoli officials would like this practice to end.

While people discuss the issue, Kimba's quietly relaxing in his cage, after his tour of Ladispoli.

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