Zoo lions kill golden eagle

Savage as it may look, lions attacking prey is a way of life in the animal kingdom.

But it isn’t something commonly seen at a zoo, let alone captured in photographs, as it was last Friday at the Greater Vancouver Zoo.

Professional photographer Pablo Su, who took his young family to the Aldergrove zoo that day, didn’t think he would be snapping shots of a lioness with the zoo’s golden eagle clasped in its jaws.

“We were essentially done for the day, and had seen everything, when we noticed a little bit of commotion at the lion’s cage,” said Su on Monday. 

“We noticed that the crows were harassing the eagle overhead, swooping down on it. The next thing we saw is one of the lionesses jump at the eagle and miss.”

Another lioness ran up the log and took a turn trying to grab the four-year-old eagle that was part of the zoo’s birds of prey show. The large native bird had flown lower into the lion’s cage to get away from the attacking crows. 

Just as it looked like the eagle would make its escape, a third lioness came out of nowhere and caught the large bird in its jaws, said Su.

“It actually was quite amazing to watch. It seemed awfully co-ordinated,” he said.

A zoo staff member was yelling, ‘no,’ but the lioness did not release the bird.

That’s when Su picked up his camera and started shooting.

But his six-year-old daughter, like any young child, was becoming quite upset about the fate of the bird and the family decided to walk away.

“I feel very bad for Gary, the [birds of prey] trainer,” said Su. “It’s not like they could send someone into the lion’s cage to save the bird.”

The zoo, the only one of its kind in B.C., made headlines across the country in the spring, when someone broke into facility, killing Jacko the spider monkey and kidnapping its mate, Mia. Despite the large financial reward offered, there has been no sign of Mia.

On Monday, no one at the Greater Vancouver Zoo could be reached for comment about the death of the golden eagle.