A tragic incident was reported from the Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park (SVZP) in Andhra Pradesh's Tirupati where a man was fatally attacked by a a lion after he entered the enclosure on Thursday. The victim was identified as 34-year-old Prahlad Gujjar, a resident of Bansur municipality in Alwar district of Rajasthan. During his visit to the zoo, he ignored safety protocols and ventured into the lions' enclosure with the intention of taking a selfie, the officials said.
Despite the vigilant efforts of the watcher on duty, the man managed to scale a large wall and enter the restricted area accessible only to caretakers and medical staff, they said."Though our animal keeper noticed and cautioned Gujjar from entering the restricted area, he scaled the six-foot-high fence and jumped into the lions' enclosure," Tirupati Zoo curator C Selvam told news agency PTI. The lion did not eat any part of his body, which was found intact with neck injuries where the animal bit him, the official added.
Man was killed by lion named 'Dongalpur'
Tragically, before the caretaker could intervene, Gujjar was mauled to death by a lion named 'Dongalpur'. Meanwhile, the local police have registered a case and a post-mortem will be conducted to determine whether Gujjar was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident. Following the attack, the lion was locked in the night house and police arrived for further investigation.
Zoo staff contacted deceased family
The curator noted that the zoo staff found Gujjar's purse while searching the enclosure which contained an Aadhaar card and other identity cards, following which they contacted the deceased person's family. However, he said that no mobile phone had been recovered from the enclosure yet.
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