Japanese zoo’s utterly bizarre lion escape drill goes viral (VIDEO)

Footage of a Japanese zoo conducting a bizarre safety drill, featuring a staff member dressed as a lion and a drive-by shooting, has gone viral.

Staff armed with nets and poles at the Tobe Zoo in Ehime Prefecture in western Japan evacuated perplexed visitors amid warnings of an escaped animal. The ‘beast’ in question turned out to be a staff member in a lion costume, one who really committed to their role, swiping at colleagues who got too close as video from the scene shows.

Meanwhile, footage of the annual safety drill captured by the local Mainichi news outlet, panned to several nonplussed real lions looking on in disgust at the truly odd spectacle from the safety of their enclosure, in an instantly meme-worthy moment.

Eventually the staff preparedness drill was brought to a conclusion in the most over-the-top way: the ‘lion’ was subdued with a stun gun in a staged drive-by shooting.

“It’s pretty clear to me that if a lion ever escapes from a Japanese zoo it will pretty much destroy the entire population,” wrote Twitter user Alec Rogers.

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