Singing with lions is best left to fictional, cartoon movies, a Memphis zoo visitor has learned. She allegedly jumped into the lion enclosure twice, once singing to them. She also tried to feed them cookies. Now, she’s been banned from the zoo.
Last week, the zoo’s security staff spotted the woman jumping into the enclosure and threw objects at them, Memphis Zoo spokesperson Abbey Dane told WMC Action News. After that, she was just told to leave the zoo. Unfortunately, they didn’t ban her permanently at that point, because she came back.
In the second incident, she hopped the barrier and sang to the lions about how much she missed them. Another visitor saw it and called the help line.
“It was bizarre,” a witness, Michelle Beasley, told the station. “I've never seen someone singing to a lion. It was really loud."
The zoo said that what the woman was doing was dangerous to the lions. “She was asked to leave the zoo permanently. She will not be granted access to the zoo anymore,” Dane told WMC.
While the zoo’s security staff is taking the situation seriously, it appears that their social media team is having fun with it.
“Speakin’ of cookies! Don’t forget to support your local bakeries like Muddy's Bake Shop, Frost Bake Shop and YoLo Frozen Yogurt, and a host of other tasty locations around town,” a post on the zoo’s Facebook page reads. “Memphis Zoo staff sure could use a sugar rush right about now. #cookiesareforpeople.”
We still need to know if the woman was trying to feed the lion animal crackers or Oreos.