TIRUPATI: An apparently adventurous move by a man from Rajasthan to pose for a selfie with a lion in Tirupati zoo on Thursday resulted in the big cat mauling him to death. The police said the man identified as Prahlad Gurjar, 38, appeared to be drunk and jumped into the lion’s enclosure by scaling a four feet safety wall. He did not heed to the warning of the zoo watcher, who is in charge of the enclosure.
Zoo officials said the 12-year-old lion was caged to retrieve the badly injured body. Prahlad may have died due to excessive bleeding from the wounds caused by the big cat.
This is the second incident in a zoo in Andhra Pradesh in recent times. On Nov 27 last year a bear attacked and killed a zoo employee in Visakhapatnam zoo after he forgot to close the safety door.
Local police inspector Thameem Ahmed said Prahlad sneaked into the no-entry area near the lion’s enclosure, mounted on top of an overhead water tank and then jumped into the lion enclosure all of a sudden at around 2.30 pm.
The watcher, who was on the other side of the enclosure, shouted at Prahlad not to jump into the enclosure, but it was too late.
Curator: Zoo will review security measures again
The lion dragged him to a corner of the enclosure and mauled him to death within 10 minutes.
The zoo authorities shifted the lion into the lion night house located outside the enclosure immediately after the incident. After the watcher alerted the zoo authorities, they in turn informed the police at around 2.45 pm. A panchanama was conducted and the body was sent to the government hospital for a post mortem.
Police identified the victim based on his Aadhar card, a bus ticket and a slip with some phone numbers. They informed his family about the incident.
Ahmed said Prahlad was a native of Turana village in Bansur tehsil of Alwar district in Rajasthan. He was a driver by profession. He left home about two months ago. Prahlad boarded a bus in Hyderabad to reach Tirupati on Feb 13. The police have been investigating his activities in Tirupati since he arrived. He supposedly reached the SV Zoo Park earlier in the day. According to zoo curator C Selvam, this is the first time such an incident has been reported. There are three lions in the zoo. While two lions are caged throughout the day, one lion is released into the enclosure daily for display.
“Though the watcher on duty cautioned him not to get close to the enclosure, Prahlad intentionally marched towards the enclosure which has a four feet wall and six feet tall iron fencing and jumped into it,” the curator said. “We have taken utmost precaution to prevent such incidents. We will once again review the security measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” he added.
Zoo officials said the 12-year-old lion was caged to retrieve the badly injured body. Prahlad may have died due to excessive bleeding from the wounds caused by the big cat.
This is the second incident in a zoo in Andhra Pradesh in recent times. On Nov 27 last year a bear attacked and killed a zoo employee in Visakhapatnam zoo after he forgot to close the safety door.
Local police inspector Thameem Ahmed said Prahlad sneaked into the no-entry area near the lion’s enclosure, mounted on top of an overhead water tank and then jumped into the lion enclosure all of a sudden at around 2.30 pm.
The watcher, who was on the other side of the enclosure, shouted at Prahlad not to jump into the enclosure, but it was too late.
Curator: Zoo will review security measures again
The lion dragged him to a corner of the enclosure and mauled him to death within 10 minutes.
The zoo authorities shifted the lion into the lion night house located outside the enclosure immediately after the incident. After the watcher alerted the zoo authorities, they in turn informed the police at around 2.45 pm. A panchanama was conducted and the body was sent to the government hospital for a post mortem.
Police identified the victim based on his Aadhar card, a bus ticket and a slip with some phone numbers. They informed his family about the incident.
Ahmed said Prahlad was a native of Turana village in Bansur tehsil of Alwar district in Rajasthan. He was a driver by profession. He left home about two months ago. Prahlad boarded a bus in Hyderabad to reach Tirupati on Feb 13. The police have been investigating his activities in Tirupati since he arrived. He supposedly reached the SV Zoo Park earlier in the day. According to zoo curator C Selvam, this is the first time such an incident has been reported. There are three lions in the zoo. While two lions are caged throughout the day, one lion is released into the enclosure daily for display.
“Though the watcher on duty cautioned him not to get close to the enclosure, Prahlad intentionally marched towards the enclosure which has a four feet wall and six feet tall iron fencing and jumped into it,” the curator said. “We have taken utmost precaution to prevent such incidents. We will once again review the security measures to prevent such incidents in the future,” he added.