Sydney's Taronga Zoo has revealed two of the five lions that escaped their exhibit last week also breached a second fence.
The zoo this afternoon released a statement with more details of the incident, which happened early last Wednesday and made international headlines.
It was revealed two lion cubs made it past a second fence — something at odds with initial updates which suggested all five animals made it out of their enclosure but not into public areas of the zoo.
Of the two cubs that breached the second fence, one made it back into the exhibit. The other was safely tranquilised.
The "emergency incident" unfolded about 7am, well before patrons are able to access the zoo.
An ongoing independent investigation has uncovered more details about how the big cats managed to exit through a failure in the fence.
The male lion and four cubs played and interacted with the fence for about 20 minutes before managing to breach it, the zoo said in a statement.
"Preliminary independent engineering advice has confirmed that swages (clamps that join wire cables together) failed, enabling a lacing cable that connects the fence mesh to a tension cable to unravel," the zoo's statement read.
"The lions were then able to create and squeeze thorough a gap."
Taronga Zoo's executive director, Simon Duffy, reassured the public that the entire facility had its own safety perimeter fence preventing the animals from leaving and wandering the streets of Sydney.
The review into the incident continues but has so far recommended the engagement of an "independent tensile-structure engineer" to closely inspect the failure and advise on its repair.
One lioness and cub remained in their enclosure while staff used "their relationships with the lions" to calmly call the others back into their exhibit, the zoo said.
"The four other cubs and adult male lion appeared to remain calm and investigated the other side of the main containment fence, remaining within metres of their exhibit, before actively trying to find their way back under the fence."
Video footage of the incident confirmed that it was less than 10 minutes between the lions exiting their main exhibit and the full emergency response being enacted, Mr Duffy said shortly after.
The lions remain in an outdoor, back-of-house holding area as the the investigation into the incident continues.
