Wednesday before the Jacksonville Zoo opened its doors, a zookeeper had to seek shelter after a lion entered the same exhibit the worker was cleaning.
According to a Jacksonville Zoo spokesperson, a zookeeper went in to clean the lion exhibit Wednesday morning before the zoo opened. There were no lions in the exhibit at the time, as they were being held in containment during cleaning.
The spokesperson said a door was left open allowing a lion to enter the facility the zookeeper was cleaning. Another zookeeper spotted the lion entering the exhibit and alerted the person inside to seek shelter.
The zookeeper reportedly jumped into the moat within the exhibit to get away from the lion and left the enclosure uninjured.
Jacksonville Zoo Director of Animal Care Dan Maloney said protocols would be to never be in the same space as the lion. "We're going to be looking very closely at our practices. It's never happened before in this area, but if there's something we should change, we're just not sure what it would be right now," he said.
None of the public was ever in danger during this incident because the zoo had not yet opened.
"We have people taking care of animals, and people make mistakes sometimes," said Maloney.