A 450-lb lion escaped the zoo and cornered an elderly woman on a park bench. When armed police arrived, they couldn’t believe what she whispered to him…

their corners permanently curled from years of exposure to the dry African heat. I looked over her shoulder. There was a tiny, tawny lump asleep on a wool blanket. There was a clumsy cub swatting uncoordinated at a braided rope. And there was a shot of him standing awkwardly on three legs, his right front limb encased in a heavy, white plaster cast.continue reading …