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Children visiting a zoo were left in tears after an owl taking part in a display was caught and eaten by lions.
Families were horrified when a female lion "clubbed" the bird out of the air before a male pounced and devoured it in front of them.
The barn owl, called Ash, had been taking part in a falconry display with her handler at Colchester Zoo when she accidentally flew over the lion enclosure. Although she landed safely on the side, she was said to have lost her footing and fallen. Seconds later she was killed.
Gavin Duthie, from Colchester, had taken his two-year-old son Daniel to the zoo on Saturday. He said: "Daniel was in tears along with most of the people who were there. Women and children were screaming but it was all over in seconds.
"It's in the lion's nature - I have taught Daniel that lions are not fluffy animals. He was very upset."
Alex Downing, the zoo's marketing director, said: "We are very sad to report that our little barn owl 'Ash' sadly died at the weekend.
Unfortunately she got spooked during an experience and flew right out of the falconry arena and hit the window of another enclosure. She picked herself up and flew onto the roof of the meerkat enclosure where we hoped she'd settle but she was obviously dazed and as a result flew low across the lion enclosure.
"Although she landed on the side of the enclosure she very sadly lost her footing and fell in whereupon she was killed by one of the lions.
"Everyone involved is obviously extremely upset about such a combination of events but there is nothing that anyone could have done at the time to avoid such an awful outcome.
"In 25 years of falconry displays nothing like this has occurred as the birds do normally instinctively know that this isn't a safe place to go."
Reader views (33)
Quote from the zoo's web site:
"You can be one of the lucky few who get to meet all of our owls, from the British favourites like the barn owl, to the tiny exotic scops owl. This experience of a lifetime will culminate in you actually being able to fly one of our owls!"
Maybe not.
- nigel, queanbeyan australia, 03/02/2012 04:58
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this article is egged up as the saying goes i was there with my grandaughters we saw the incident yes a few ppl gasped but although i was sad for the Owl i was impressed with the lions ... and my 5 yr old grandaughter was excited she saw it but then when she was 3 she did tell the nursery class that they could eat their pet chickhens if they wanted ....the only woman screaming was the poor keeper that had been flying the owl
- Christine, Felixstowe UK, 02/02/2012 20:01
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'Owl eats Lion' is News. This isn't.
he point about compensation culture is well made. I hope the ZSL is gearing itself up for a flood of claims, as sure as night follows day.
- dhan raj, basildon, 01/02/2012 09:17
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For goodness sake, would some people get over themselves? Yes, it is in a lion's nature to kill birds, nobody is disputing that, but the fact remains that it is a sad and distressing thing to watch when you take your toddler child to the zoo. SOME people do shelter their kids from the reality of animals' behaviour, but i know many people who are perfectly honest and straightforward about it. They are still entitled to hope for a nice wee afternoon with their kids watching owls flit around.
Some people delight in being hard and macho about this kind of thing and trumpeting about animals being animals etc. I suggest they might feel differently if they had been standing there with a howling 2-year-old grabbing their legs as Ash the owl was obliterated.
- Mrs buttery, churnton, 31/01/2012 20:31
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Bet the Owl wasn't best pleased either. I wonder if these screaming Mums walk past a homeless person on the street their kids hear the parent tell the 'vagrant' to get a job. In a similar way the Owl carelessly got in the way of the lion's paw!
- Bill Mearns, Oxford USA, 31/01/2012 20:24
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Jeez, some of you guys are ruthless. Having a bad day?
- Jack, Burbank, California, 31/01/2012 20:24
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Oh! Dear! Children encounter the REAL world and not the benefit world that the Blair-Brown Terror have imposed upon us.
I wait with anticipation the 'compensation' claimed by these brats and their parents, because they witnessed the actuality of life - and death!
- David Davies, London, a Region of the European Soviet Union, 31/01/2012 19:28
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Nature red in tooth and claw. For something to live something else has to die. Mother Nature is not another Walt Disney Production. I shudder to think of all the baked beans that I have murdered in the past just to survive and thrive so that I can continue to write daft letters to this great newspaper.
If the lions' snack had been a vegetarian feral pigeon instead of a pretty but carnivorous barn owl people would have been quite impressed by the opportunistic alacrity shown by the caged "Kings of the Jungle".
- Higgnoraimus, Birmingham, 31/01/2012 19:20
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"Children's horror at zoo as lion eats owl" ..... sounds like a real hoot ..... :o(
Sorry.
- Webby, Jacksonville, FL, 31/01/2012 19:16
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I met Ash the Owl and he did mention that they were not getting on so the unfortunate incident doesn´t surprise me!!
- richie flowers, Solymar Uraguay via Bromley kent ...thats England., 31/01/2012 18:23
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To be honest, I blame the Owl. It obviously failed to carry out a proper risk assessment before flying over the lion enclosure. No doubt the Owl's relatives will be able to bring a private prosecution against the Lion on the grounds of murder. If convicted, the lion could end up doing bird...
- Adam, The Socialist dictatorship, formally known as Great Britain, 31/01/2012 18:00
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wonder what owl taste like
- jack de molay, paris, 31/01/2012 17:32
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Thank you Jolly Roger, glad you're on my side, and you have good taste and great sense of humour (unlike some others!!).
- A thrash metal fan, UK, 31/01/2012 16:56
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Real life, gosh how awful.
- Jane, London, 31/01/2012 16:50
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Hello Jolly Roger - gone off topic, I see. Well bearing in mind that one of my favourite albums is Master of Puppets, you are a little bit off course. I have an eclectic taste; Jelly Roll Morton, The Who, Mozart, Pendulum, The Clash, NERD, AC/DC, John Lee Hooker. I own albums from all genres. No sea shanties though. Maybe you can start another thread. Cheers.
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 16:43
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cat eats bird, jog on.
- Tony, Ipswich, Suffolk, 31/01/2012 16:36
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"Thrash metal fan; your name says it all..."
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 14:22
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I'd rather listen to thrash metal than the tripe in the Top 40. I'm guessing that's the bland mush you like, Ian?
- Jolly Roger, The Maiden's Bounty, 31/01/2012 16:14
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"Women and children were screaming..."
Really?
Grown women screaming at the sight of a bird getting caught and eaten by another animal?
Come on ladies, sort it out! What sort of sheltered lives are they leading?
Have they never watched a nature documentary?
Has their cat never brought something it's caught in?
Welcome to the real world!
- Lee, London, 31/01/2012 15:43
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So the kiddies saw some real life instead of sanitised TV.
- BJ, East London, 31/01/2012 15:37
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Nature red in tooth and claw - Tennyson
- Sue R, London, 31/01/2012 15:31
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Michael, I have no vested interest in zoos and let's be honest - anyone who has a view can be called one sided. Let's just say that I think we all care about the welfare of animals, but we differ in the way it should be done. Show me a better way to deal with the situation and I am happy to be told. Thanks
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 15:22
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and yes I do know you from Adam
- Michael, London, 31/01/2012 15:20
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Peter. Obtuse? Comments are biblical? Not sure where you get that from. However; Comments nothing to do with a zoo? Well in part I agree with that. Moving on; I agree that animals should be free and I also agree that man should not ruin things of great beauty. On both counts, I could not agree with you more. However; generations of "humanity" have ruined the habitat for so much of our flora and fauna that we do need to rebuild habitats. This takes time. This "outrage" strikes me as nothing more than the "Disneyfication" of animals. The owl was killed, which is sad. Yet this is nothing compared to the mass destruction of habitat of so many animals in the wild in order for homo-sapiens to get the products and commodities that they "need". Concentrate your efforts on that rather than one owl - sad though it is for the owl.
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 15:08
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Ian. You seem like you are being quite obtuse. Your comments seem rather biblical and have nothing to do with a zoo. Animals are free spirits, leave them to be free and run in the wild. Do not let man ruin things of great beauty.
- Peter, Bromley, 31/01/2012 14:56
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This is appalling to hear and think Ian has too much of a one sided view on this case.
Ian have you got a vested interest in zoos?
- Michael, London, 31/01/2012 14:52
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"No matter how hard thet try Zoos are artiificial places. Better that these amnimls were kept in the wild in their natural habitat and animals do what they do naturally kill for food. "
Trouble is there isn't much wild left.
- John David, London, 31/01/2012 14:49
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Thrash metal fan; your name says it all. We are encroaching on the animals natural environment. They are running out of space. If zoos did not exist, then many more species would be extinct. Probably for the best that you understand what you are commenting on before you comment. Cheers
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 14:22
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How many of these children and others eat meat? Do they ever even enquire as to the lives and the manner of the death of the animals they devour? Bet not.
- helen, norwich, 31/01/2012 14:14
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Zoos are an ark trying to put right what mankind has done over the last few hundred years. To claim this is human error is a very short-sighted view, Serox. The educational value of zoos is highly important. Ok, it is sad that the owl died, but this sort of thing happens in the wild every day. Please research fully what zoos are doing for the repatriation of animals in their natural habitat. I think you will be both humbled and surprised. Thanks.
- Ian, London, 31/01/2012 14:13
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Shock horror!!!!! LOL !!!!!
That's why I say, animals should be left in their natural environment.
It's only natural, after all!
- A thrash metal fan, London, 31/01/2012 13:55
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Sounds like it was the plastic glass that baffled the owl and confused it! it then flew into this and it was left dazed.
Human error strikes again. Animals in zoo's are not as happy as you might think.
- serox, London, 31/01/2012 13:45
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No matter how hard thet try Zoos are artiificial places. Better that these amnimlswere kept in the wild in their natural habitat and animals do what they do naturally kill for food.
Kids will be familir with pet cats that kill garden birds and mice so they should not be too upset.
- dhan raj, basildon, 31/01/2012 12:29
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The nature of the beast, I'm afraid, and you can't tame Nature.
I met some of the Birds of Prey at Colchester Zoo in 1986, a very defining moment - I've never been out with an Essex girl again!
- Jolly Roger, The Maiden's Bounty, 31/01/2012 12:21
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