Whenever you take your children to the zoo, you hope that your day is filled with learning about all different species of animals and watching your kids’ faces light up when they spot things like zebras and giraffes, which they’ve only ever seen in movies and books. One thing you don’t really think will occur is a horrific interaction with an animal. Sadly, that wasn’t the case for a young girl in China. She was attacked by two lions at the zoo when she was attempting to feed them and they grabbed her leg through the caged bars.
A scary incident involving a 10-year-old girl took place at the Shantou Zhongshan Park Zoo on February 26, 2026, when the young visitor was attempting to feed the lions and a lioness reached out of the cage and grabbed her pants, tugging her toward the enclosure, Asia One reported.
The young girl immediately started screaming as a nearby zookeeper tried to pull her away from the enclosure just as another lion tried to reach out and grab her, the New York Post reported. Luckily, the zookeeper grabbed a metal rod to dislodge the lion’s large paws, which were clinging to the girl’s pant leg, eventually freeing her in a “terrifying 30-second tussle.”
According to Asia One, the zoo’s operations have been suspended for a “comprehensive review of the zoo’s safety measures.” The zookeeper who brought the young girl into the designated feeding area despite being underage has been suspended and reassigned since the close call, per the Daily Mail.
Zoo staff believe that the lioness lashed out at the girl after spotting meat in her hand, per the news outlet.
The girl was taken to the hospital after the attack where it was found that she suffered minor abrasions on her legs, and she received a rabies vaccination as a precautionary measure, per Asia One. She was able to leave the hospital that evening and her parents reportedly do not hold the zoo responsible for what happened, according to the Daily Mail.
We hope what happened to this curious young girl serves as an important lesson to zoo staff — and parents — everywhere to follow the strict safety procedures that have been set out by each institution.
