Lions barred from ferry

Press, 5 July 1977, Page 6

Lions barred from ferry

I PA Wellington Railways Department fears of three African lions breaking loose on a Cook Strait ferry have stranded members of a Christchurch circus in Wellington for the last two days. Mrs Shirley Isherwood, her husband Bill, sons Ray and Russell, and the three lions, had booked to sail to Picton on Sunday morning. They had been brought to Wellington for Saturday’s rugby parade by a wine wholesaler. But bad weather in the capital caused problems for Railways officials, who told Mrs isherwood the lions could not go on the ferry across because they could not lash their cage securely. They did not want the lions to get loose in the boat, she said.

i “I accepted that in good (faith with the high winds out (there,” Mrs Isherwood said (last evening. But since then, the Isherwoods had been turned down three times and they do not know when they will get home. “The Railways say we can (go across when it’s calm, but (that could be three or four days. I I “I’m at my wits end. My

family is in Christchurch looking after the rest of the circus. They’ve got no power there now because of the storm.

“I’ve had to pay out that much in toll bills," she said.