Man mauled to death by lions in front of busloads of zoo visitors
Victim ignored keepers and, after scaling a 12ft perimeter wall, ‘jumped inside’ the lions’ enclosure
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A man has been mauled to death by lions at a zoo in India after he climbed over a large perimeter wall into the animals’ enclosure.
The incident took place on Sunday afternoon at the Chhatbir Zoo in Mohali, Punjab state. Zoo officials said a young man in his early twenties was seen climbing the wall and told to stop by keepers.
He ignored them and “jumped inside”, Punjab wildlife chief Dr Kuldeep Kumar told the Hindustan Times.
The man had entered the zoo’s lion safari attraction, a large enclosure housing four lions which visitors are only able to access via bus tours. He was immediately spotted by two lions, a male and a female, said Dr Kumar.
“Lionesses have a very curious nature and [lioness] Shilpa saw something falling from a great height inside their territory. She rushed to take a look and found her prey. She instantly attacked the man, caught hold of his neck and then dragged him along,” Dr Kumar said.
The incident lasted around 10 minutes and was witnessed by two busloads of visitors before a rapid response team drove the lions away from the man.
The victim was rushed to hospital in a police vehicle but declared dead on arrival. No forms of identification were found on the body, meaning police have been unable to inform the man’s next of kin and begin an autopsy.
Police said a notice would be placed in newspapers asking the man’s family to come forward. If no one does so, doctors will proceed with the postmortem examination in 72 hours.
Zoo officials told the IANS news agency they were investigating how the man was able to enter the enclosure. The wall he scaled was 12ft high and topped with barbed wire, they said. In the meantime, the lion safari has been closed to visitors indefinitely.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments