Local authorities in South Korea said that a threatened lioness was shot dead on Monday, an hour after escaping a private farm.
In North Gyeongsang Province’s Goryeong county, around 300 kilometres (186 miles) south of the capital Seoul, the lioness broke out of her cage on Monday morning, according to a county official. Over 30,000 people live in this rugged region.
The regional fire service reported that the escape led to a search operation involving 127 police officers and 26 firefighters. Authorities issued a warning and advising citizens to avoid the neighbouring Bukdu mountain.
The lioness was shot dead in the woods approximately four to five kilometres (about 2.5 to 3.1 miles) from the property, the county official said, roughly an hour after the escape was discovered.
Before she was killed, the lioness can be seen gazing out from a tangle of twigs and leaves in photos issued by the fire service.
According to the county administrator, the private property also has cows but no other lions or lionesses.
An spokesperson from the organisation told CNN that the lioness had been listed as an internationally endangered species with the Daegu Regional Environmental Office.
The office, which also inspects the animals’ housing conditions, must be informed of any transfer and death of a registered animal, the official continued. The date of this lioness’ most recent examination is unknown.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, lions are currently classified as “vulnerable” because of habitat loss, the extinction of prey species, trophy hunting, and human conflict.