Man mauled to death by lions at Chhatbir zoo

Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, January 20

An unidentified man was mauled to death by lions in the lion safari at Mahendra Chaudhary Zoological Park, also known as Chhatbir zoo, in Zirakpur on Sunday afternoon.

According to sources, the man, believed to be around 25 years old, reportedly entered the lion safari by scaling the wall. There were two lions inside the safari while three were in an enclosure. The victim was attacked for around 10 minutes by two lions, Shilpa and Yuvraj.

Driver of a bus, which ferries the visitors in the safari, noticed the body and informed the zoo officials. The lion safari was closed citing maintenance by the zoo officials. Police are investigating the matter.

“Around 2.20 pm, a man scaled the boundary wall which is 30 feet high and jumped inside the safari. The quick response team reacted promptly and rescued the man who was in a critical condition then and took him to hospital,” Dr M Sudhagarb, field director, Chhatbir zoo, said. 

The official said the man might have entered the zoo through the Ghaggar bandh area, which was also known as the jungle area.

“He then scaled the wall and must have fallen inside the enclosure,” Sudhgarb said. He claimed that the man was not a visitor.

“We suspect that he was drunk as it is impossible for a normal person to scale the boundary wall, which is so high,” the official said.

The body was taken to the Civil Hospital Derabassi. While the identity of the man is yet to be ascertained, the police are waiting for someone to claim his body before conducting the post-mortem.