Families sleeping in in ‘Roar and Snore’ tents were given seconds to flee after lions escaped in a zoo.
Those staying in Taronga Zoo had 30 seconds to run form their luxury tents when the five big cats managed to escape their area metres from where a family was were sleeping.
Magnus and Dominique Perri and their sons Lucas and Oliver were in the attraction's 'Roar and Snore' tents.
They awoke to the the sound of lion at 4am on Wednesday in Sydney, Australia.
Mr Perri's went back to sleep, believing the lions were safely locked in their enclosure and thought the sounds of the animals were part of the experience.
But hours later at 6.40am, an alarm sounded across the attraction and workers urged everyone in the campsite to evacuate immediately as lions were on the loose.
Mr Perri said: "It just happened so quickly.
"They said 'Hurry up! Don't worry about your things. This is a Code One. Get out of your tent. Leave your belongings behind. You have 30 seconds to get out.'
"People were running out."
His family were taken out with 50 'Roar and Snore' families sleeping overnight in the Australian zoo, to a place of refuge for 90 minutes.
Zookeepers were also said to be yelling "they're still outside still" until four came back to their enclosure.
Reports claimed a tranquilliser gun was used to catch the lion that did not return.
Simon Duffy, Taronga Zoo executive director said an adult lion and four cubs escaped at 6.30am.
The zookeeper said: "The lions were observed in a small area adjacent to the main lion exhibit where a six-foot fence separated them from the rest of the zoo.
"The zoo has very strict safety protocols in place for such an incident and immediate action was taken ... Four of the lions calmly made their way back into their main exhibit and dens and one lion cub was safely tranquillised.
"All animals are now safe in their back-of-house exhibit and are being closely monitored."
He added that video footage showed the incident was under control within 10 minutes at 6.50am.
He continued: "This is a significant incident and a full review is now underway to confirm exactly how the lions were able to exhibit their main exhibit."
A Code One alarm is used when a "dangerous animal" has escaped or sparked an alarming situation and staff are ordered to immediately lockdown in a "safe haven".
Taronga Zoo said it would operate normally today but lions which had escaped would not be on display.
Police officers from New South Wales attended but the zoo was "managing the situation on its own".
