Lioness was shot after an hour of freedom: Was there no way to prevent this tragedy?

"At around 7:30 AM today, a lioness has escaped in Yaro, Deokgok-myeon, at 483-157 Deokgok-ro. Residents in the vicinity are advised to take necessary safety precautions. If spotted, please report to 119."

This is a disaster safety message that was sent to residents of Goryeong-gun, Gyeongsangbuk-do, around 7:46 AM on the 14th.

Less than an hour after this, at around 8:40 AM, the female lion, which had been quietly hiding in the forest, was shot dead without much resistance. The situation was quickly resolved within an hour of the lion's death. Once again, a disaster safety message was sent out.

"We would like to inform you that the female lion that escaped in Deokgok-myeon, Goryeong, has been captured, and the situation has been resolved."

This lioness was trapped in this farm since she was a small cub, living for about 20 years. It is said that she never showed aggressive tendencies, perhaps due to being exposed to human interaction from a young age. The tragic life of this lion, which had known nothing but a small iron-barred window, came to an end not much different from its past. After a lifetime of about 20 years, she was given only a single hour of free stroll, and it ended with a gunshot, taking her last breath.

Upon learning of the news, many people are expressing a sense of regret towards the immediate decision to kill made by the authorities. Some are pointing out that there could have been alternatives to choose from, such as initially tranquilizing the lioness, rather than killing by shooting. Criticism is also directed at the authorities that granted permission to raise a wild animal and a predator like a lion in a place like this in the first place.

Netizens are expressing various reactions, including: "Why kill when there's an alternative like a tranquilizer gun?'', "Regardless of everything, what crime did the lion, now killed, commit?", "The organization that approved raising a lion in such a confined cement-floored cage is also at fault.", "Seeing the lion killed like this makes me feel very unhappy. Would a developed country have handled it the same way?"

Regarding this, the Daegu Regional Environmental Office stated to <News Penguin> on this day that the incident occurred due to the breeder's negligence. Moreover, considering that the escaped individual was a carnivore and there were no experts with tranquilizer guns on-site, killing by shooting was deemed unavoidable.

A representative from the Daegu Regional Environmental Office mentioned "At the time, there was no person on the scene response team who possessed a tranquilizer gun, and even if there were specific dosages of tranquilizers for various species, no one knew about it. Naturally, preserving the individual would have been the ideal choice, but due to concerns about human harm, it was an unavoidable situation."

According to officials, this lioness belongs to the Appendix II of the CITES(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora). The CITES treaty is an international agreement aimed at protecting endangered species from indiscriminate capture, collection, and illegal trade. It includes over 5,000 animal species and more than 28,000 plant species, categorized into three appendices. The Appendix II, to which the lioness belongs, permits international trade for commercial, scientific, and research purposes only through prior notification.

The lion is also classified as 'Vulnerable' on the IUCN(International Union for Conservation of Nature) Red List.

In response to questions about whether it is permissible to directly shoot legally designated endangered species, an official stated, "Even for designated endangered species by the Ministry of Environment, in urgent situations such as when escaped individuals from 'dangerous groups' such as predators, killing by shooting is allowed domestically."

According to the 'Standard Response Manual for Animal Escapes' released by the Ministry of Environment in March of last year, lions are classified as large carnivores and are included in the highest-risk category, known as the 'dangerous group.' Animals in this group, depending on the on-site circumstances, can be considered for killing by shoot upon escape.

The prepared equipment for capture includes lethal firearm, as well as tranquilizer gun. However, it appears that in this incident, the tranquilizer gun was not ready, as the animal was killed immediately without following these procedures.

This isn't the first time a beast has escaped and been shot in South Korea. In September 2018, a puma named 'Bborongi' from Daejeon O-World escaped due to the caretaker's negligence and was shot by a marksman after 4 hours and 30 minutes. At that time, the incident garnered significant attention in society, with even a national petition to shut down the zoo. More recently, on the 11th of this month, there was an incident at Daegu Dalseong Park Zoo where two chimpanzees escaped; one of them was shot with a tranquilizer gun and eventually died during recovery.

Whenever incidents occur where wild animals lured by profit-making motives end up being killed by humans, voices advocating for the enhancement of animal rights and welfare grow louder. However, there are still doubts raised about whether these voices are leading to tangible changes and improvements in reality.