An unidentified man, appearing to be in his mid-twenties, was mauled to death by a pair of lions at the Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, also known as Chhatbir Zoo, in Mohali on Sunday.
Authorities at the zoo, 20 km away from the city, claimed that this is the first of its kind incident in the zoo . According to zoo field director, M. Sudhagar stated the man entered the cage at 2:22 pm and the emergency alarm was raised by 2:28 pm.
Punjab Wildlife Chief Dr Kuldeep Kumar said, “The man climbed the seven-and- a- half metre high boundary wall right adjacent to the Ghaggar River. Our patrolling team saw him at the top. They tried to engage him in talk and make him to come down. However, he jumped inside.”
He said lioness Shilpa and lion Yuvraj were kept outside of their enclosures for tourists coming in to watch the safari. “Lionesses have a very curious nature and Shilpa saw something falling from a great height inside their territory. She rushed to take look and found her prey. She instantly attacked the man, caught hold of his neck and then dragged him along,” he added.
In the meantime, the lioness was joined in by lion, who also caught hold of his head and mauled the man to death.
The keeper at the enclosure raised an emergency alarm and a quick reaction team rushed there.
“The two buses which were inside the safari were immediately sent out and a team of men were rushed inside, after first sending the lions inside their enclosure” said Kumar. He said no tranquiliser were used in the entire rescue.
The police were informed and the victim was rushed to the civil hospital in Dera Bassi, in a police vehicle where doctors declared him brought dead.
The Zirakpur police officials, have initiated inquest proceedings in the case under sector 174 of CrPc. The police have also advertised the body type, height and picture of the deceased man to help them get in touch with his family.
First Published: Jan 20, 2019 23:58 IST
