A Woman Was Banned From the Memphis Zoo After She Hopped a Barrier to Feed the Lions Cookies

Spokesperson for the Tennessee zoo says the unidentified woman put both herself and the animals in danger

By John Boone Jun 24, 2014 6:41 PMTags
Memphis Zoo, LionsMemphis Zoo/Facebook

There was once a children's book called If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. The moral of the story was if you give a mouse a cookie, he will ask for a glass of milk, and then keep asking for more and more. Those stakes were not high enough for one woman, who attempted to live a sequel of her own: If You Give a Lion a Cookie, in which the moral of the story is the lion will eat the cookie and then eat you.

An unidentified woman wearing brown scrubs was permanently banned from the Memphis Zoo on Monday morning after other zoo-goers called security after witnessing the woman climbing over the barrier and trying to feed the lions cookies.

"[She was singing] some song that was telling how much she missed them. It was bizarre," one zoo patron, Michelle Beasley, recalled to WBIR. "I've never seen someone singing to a lion."

Even more bizarre because it had only been a week since the woman's last visit to the zoo and how much can you really miss a lion you barely know in one week? "Last week she was noticed by our security staff throwing objects into the lion exhibit; at that time she was asked to leave the zoo," zoo spokesperson Abbey Dane said, before clarifying the "objects" were also cookies.

Dane continued, "The woman's behavior was dangerous for her and the lions." Meanwhile, the lions have not yet responded to a request for comment on the incident, or clarified whether they would rather eat a cookie or a crazy lady in scrubs.