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HUNGRY lions growled and snarled as a man scaled the fence of their enclosure at Melbourne Zoo yesterday.
Horrified onlookers screamed in fear as they watched the man, wearing an RSPCA jacket, climb the 6m fence.
He held a yellow Bible above his head before asking frightened onlookers if they wanted him to pat the lions. He was surrounded for several minutes by four adult lions before zoo staff coaxed him out.
Police arrested the 21-year-old Blackburn man and he was taken to a psychiatric unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He has not been charged.
Travis Lonnie, who was at the zoo with his wife, Claudia, said he was stunned the man was able to escape alive. About 50 people, including several children, had watched in horror as the man climbed into the enclosure about 3pm.
"Everyone thought he was a goner," he said. "The zoo staff had just put the meat out for them and they were all fighting each other and ripping the meat apart.
"They were growling, pacing and hitting the walls. My wife turned away, she couldn't look, she was that frightened they might attack."
HUNGRY lions growled and snarled as a man scaled the fence of their enclosure at Melbourne Zoo yesterday.
Horrified onlookers screamed in fear as they watched the man, wearing an RSPCA jacket, climb the 6m fence.
He held a yellow Bible above his head before asking frightened onlookers if they wanted him to pat the lions. He was surrounded for several minutes by four adult lions before zoo staff coaxed him out.
Police arrested the 21-year-old Blackburn man and he was taken to a psychiatric unit at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He has not been charged.
Travis Lonnie, who was at the zoo with his wife, Claudia, said he was stunned the man was able to escape alive. About 50 people, including several children, had watched in horror as the man climbed into the enclosure about 3pm.
"Everyone thought he was a goner," he said. "The zoo staff had just put the meat out for them and they were all fighting each other and ripping the meat apart.
"They were growling, pacing and hitting the walls. My wife turned away, she couldn't look, she was that frightened they might attack."
