Zoo 'devastated and outraged' after escaped lynx killed

An animal park says it is "devastated and outraged" after a young Eurasian lynx which escaped last month was shot dead.

Lillith, who was one-and-a-half years old and twice the size of a domestic cat, had been missing from Borth Wild Animal Kingdom near Aberystwyth since the end of October.

It said that the animal did not pose a threat to humans but Ceredigion Council announced she had been killed after she "strayed over to a populated area of the community".

There were several sightings of the cat during an operation by keepers, assisted at times by a police helicopter, to return the animal to the park around six miles from Aberystwyth.

However Ceredigion Council said the decision had been taken to humanely destroy the wild animal after the risk it posed to the public increased "to severe" following failed attempts to recapture it.

According to the park there have never been any recorded attacks by a lynx on a human, but officials warned that they were wild animals with sharp teeth and claws and "will attack if cornered or trapped".