Lion shot dead on expressway in E China

A lion hit by a car walked towards a service area on an expressway in east China's Jiangsu province in the evening. Having rest, dining and refueling their cars, people in the service area did not expect a beast is around the corner.

A truck driver surnamed Zhou saw something jump out of nowhere and bumped into his vehicle. He later found it was a lion that weighed more than 450 pounds. The beast wobbled with a hurt left leg. Then Zhou called the police.

According to Jiang Hao, vice president of Hefei Wild Animal Zoo, the lion might be left behind by a vehicle transporting animals. "The cage that blocked the lion opened and the lion walked out without being noticed due to darkness," Jiang guessed.

As the lion approached to the point just 500-meter away from the service area, the officials decided to shoot it dead for the sake of safety of the people. It can be seen from CCTV that special police officers shot at least 20 rounds.

As the lion is a Class II national protected animal, people have questioned the police for wanting to kill the lion.

According to the police, the lion was in estrus and could have acted very aggressively.

According to local forestry official, the lion was too close to the service area and it would take very long to get a tranquilizer gun from nearby zoos. So the police had to take extreme measures. "It is reasonable for local policemen to do so," said the official.