Lion Escapes North Carolina Enclosure, Kills Worker

CASWELL COUNTY, NC – A lion somehow got out of its enclosure and killed a worker in Caswell County. It happened Sunday at the Conservators Center, the organization told Patch on Sunday. The center, located in Burlington, North Carolina, was founded as an educational nonprofit focused on giving a specialized home for specific meat-eating animals.

The group said it was "devastated" by the loss of a human life. A professionally trained animal keeper was leading a husbandry team that was carrying out a "routine enclosure cleaning" when a male lion somehow got out of a locked space. The animal entered into a space with people and quickly killed a worker.

It wasn't immediately clear how the lion managed to get out. The animal was shot and killed so the worker could be pulled out.

The center will be closed indefinitely and an investigation is ongoing. Further details weren't immediately released.

Caswell County is about 50 miles northwest of Raleigh on the Virginia border. The center houses more than 80 animals and more than 21 species, the organization said on its website. More than 16,000 people visit every year.

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