A MUM has said panicked zoo staff frantically told visitors to leave, just moments before gunshots were heard.

Chloe Warren, 37, from Colchester, arrived at the “eerily quiet”

zoo with her daughter Tuesday at 3pm.

Staff did not tell her anything was wrong.

In fact, five wolves had escaped, two had been shot dead and one was still on the run.

Miss Warren said staff were close by as she waited to enter the zoo.

She said: “They must have heard me discussing what animals we were going to see.

“I walked in with my daughter towards the lion area.

“About ten minutes later a panicked zoo keeper ran past and said ‘we are closing, we need to get all of you out’.

Miss Warren asked why she was being asked to leave when she had only just arrived, but she was not given a reason.

Other visitors have reported being told there was a medical emergency.

The fifth wolf was shot dead on land owned by the zoo, but not in the zoo grounds, at about 4pm.

Miss Warren said: “We were going when the gunshots were fired. Luckily my daughter was in the car by then.

“From a safety point of view, they shouldn’t have admitted people”