A lion had an unfortunate accident when it got its head stuck in a feeding barrel at a zoo in the Netherlands . Captured by a visitor to the Dierenrijk zoo , the lion can be seen inserting its head into the barrel and attempting to retrieve a piece of meat . Zoo keepers place food in barrels to stimulate the lions , as it replicates the challenges faced when the animals feed in the wild . The animal , hoping to beat two other lions to the food , reaches in too far and suddenly gets its head stuck . Reacting in a panic the lion jumps backwards and attempts to flick the barrel from its head as the other lions chase after it . Visitors to the zoo can be heard laughing hysterically while the lion desperately tries to set itself free . The animal , hoping to beat two other lions to the food , reaches into the barrel too far and gets its head stuck . The other lions chase after the barrel as the distressed animal runs around in a circle and attempts to free itself . One lion appears to come to the rescue by jumping up and standing on the barrel while the lion pulls from the ground . But unfortunately the animal is unable to free its head and the other two lions walk around looking perplexed . Feeling sorry for itself , the distressed lion stands alone in the corner before turning and running frantically towards the zoo ’ s visitors . The lion reacts in panic and attempts to flick the barrel from its head by running around . Visitors watch on as the lion jumps around and even runs towards the people standing at the edge of the enclosure . The video concludes with the lion looking well and truly fed up as it lies on the ground , exhausted by its failed attempts to break free . According to the video maker , the lion was eventually freed from the barrel and it was unharmed . He said : ‘ To make feeding a little bit more exciting for the lions they [ the keepers ] put meat in a barrel with two small openings . According to the video maker , the lion was eventually freed from the barrel and it was unharmed . The other lions look perplexed and one even looks as if it is trying to help its friend by standing on the barrel . ‘ The lions had to get the meat out of the barrel through the holes . Instead one lion put his head through a hole and got stuck . ‘ He was walking around and bumped into some objects . He became exhausted , but is basically still all right . ‘ After closing time , a veterinarian came and anaesthetised the lion . The barrel was cut off and the lion did not have any injuries . He is happily walking around again. ’ The video concludes with the lion looking well and truly fed up as it lies on the ground , exhausted by its failed attempts to break free .
Zoo keepers place food in the barrels to stimulate the lions when feeding . One lion reaches too far into the food barrel and gets its head stuck . Lion is captured on video thrashing about attempting to free itself . The incident occurred at the Dierenrijk zoo in the Netherlands .