Deer dies after leap into D.C. zoo lion exhibit

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By ASSOCIATED PRESS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Two female lions fatally injured a wild deer that jumped into their enclosure at the National Zoo as dozens of visitors looked on.

Zoo spokeswoman Pamela Baker-Masson says the deer may have entered the zoo from Rock Creek Park, where the zoo is located, on Sunday afternoon.

Witness Rob Ephraim says the deer "ran between people" at the railing around the sunken enclosure, then leaped and fell into the moat at the bottom of the wall. Ephraim says one lion dragged her to a stairwell area.

The deer escaped to the moat and emerged on its own once zoo workers brought the lions indoors. But Baker-Masson says it was clear the deer would not survive and it was euthanized.

Baker-Masson says it's highly unusual for a deer to get into an enclosure.