Residents of the seaside town of Ladispoli were told to stay indoors for more than five hours on Saturday evening while police, vets and circus staff tracked the lion, finally sedating and then capturing him.
Videos published by Italian media showed the fully-grown lion with a shaggy mane walking through dark and deserted residential streets, padding past parked cars.
Kimba, the lion, was caught more than five hours after the initial alert was raised.
Circus owner Rony Vassallo said the lion was doing fine, and that investigations were under way to find out how he escaped, says the BBC.
