King of the beasts of the British dungeon (7 photos)

Lions are proud, aggressive and exclusively terrestrial animals. Therefore, their residence in the intricacies of sewer networks is out of the question. However, even the most incredible stories can sometimes come true.





Mobile zoos are a rather nasty thing, since the animals are not kept in captivity in the best conditions. But they have always been popular, so Francis Charles Bostock (1866-1912) chose this particular line of activity for himself.



Bostock with his charges

Frank was related to the owners of large circuses, from the age of 15 he worked as a trainer and eventually acquired his own establishment with the pretentious name “The Jungle”.

During one of the performances in Birmingham, a lion, famous for its aggressive character and having previously managed to kill one person and maim another, gracefully left the tent and went to stretch its paws. The golden-maned handsome man walked through the urban jungle proudly and confidently, as if he was walking through his native savannah. On the way, the animal came across an open sewer hatch, where the lion jumped and continued the procession. Only already underground. Periodically “delighting” passersby above with a menacing roar.

Leo and... lion





Panic quickly spread throughout the city. Bostock, trying to prevent its further spread, showed the public a cage with a lion. Naturally, it was a different animal. And the fugitive remained somewhere underground. I just got tired of wandering and stopped loudly roaring around the area.

Midnight Hunters





Newspapers exploded with headlines after the incident praising the bravery of the catchers. Of course, there were some fictitious details: the lion jumped over a crowd of frightened children, and got distracted by a duel between an ostrich and a deer, for which he paid. But the truth emerged much later.

In the evening, the head of the police department came to Bostock to express his gratitude for eliminating the problem on his own. After all, there were no people among his subordinates who wanted to roam underground and catch an unpredictable predator.

What a disappointment he was when he found out the truth... At first he just screamed. Then I got tired and listened to the explanations of the trainer, whose actions were aimed at preventing panic.



And then, under the cover of darkness, a search operation began. Heavily armed police, numbering several hundred, wandered through the dungeon until they discovered the lion's rookery.

Bostock slowly approached his charge. The trainer's head was crowned with a metal bowler hat, in which the police carried cartridges. The pot fell to the ground, rattled, and the sound was intensified by a rolling echo. The lion pulled back and ended up in a rope noose set up by the police while the trainer was pretending to be a medieval knight.

The animal was quickly entangled with ropes into a cocoon and taken to the menagerie. Each participant in the search was sworn to secrecy about the events of that night. And the men kept their promise. The truth only emerged when Frank himself described the incident in his autobiography.



Frank C. Bostock's grave

Fate did not deal much to the “King of Animals,” as Bostock was called. His life was ended not by a blow from a predator's paw, but by a common flu. A unique tombstone is installed on the grave - a lying stone lion guards the peace of the trainer.