WARNING – GRAPHIC CONTENT: A zoo in Pakistan has been forced to close its doors after a man was found mauled to death in a tiger enclosure, with the big cats playing with his shoes the next day
A zoo in Pakistan was forced to shut down after a man was found dead, having been mauled by tigers when he reportedly “jumped into” their enclosure, leaving the predators toying with his shoes the following day.
The Punjab zoo had to close its gates temporarily after the chilling incident was uncovered during a routine clean-up. The grim discovery of the unidentified man’s body was made at Bahawalpur’s Sherbagh Zoo in Punjab, with staff first becoming aware of the tragedy when they spotted a tiger carrying a shoe in its mouth.
“The zoo is closed right now as we determine how the man got in,” said Ali Usman Bukhari, a senior officer in the province’s wildlife department which oversees the zoo, speaking to AFP in the wake of the dreadful event.
The deceased has yet to be identified, and no family members have stepped forward. In the aftermath of the gruesome find, Zaheer Anwar, a high-ranking local government official, confirmed to the media outside the zoo that all employees were accounted for.
“Our assessment so far is that this appears to be a lunatic, because a sensible person would not jump into the den,” he said. “You can see the den is secured. There are stairs behind the den, maybe he jumped from there.”, reports the Irish Star.
The condition of the man’s remains suggests that the fatal attack happened late the previous night. “Evidence gathered from the enclosure points towards him being alive when he was attacked by the tigers,” added Bukhari.
“The tigers did not go out of the den to attack the man, he jumped into their enclosure,” he said. “If we find a security lapse, we will address it. If need be, we will hire private security guards.”
The group of tigers present when the body was found were temporarily restrained to a smaller space as detectives scoured the scene. Nonetheless, the deceased’s identity remains unknown.
The Bahawalpur zoo, opened by the ruling Royal family in 1942, welcomes adults for a modest entry fee of 18 cents. “Lions, tigers, and hyenas are housed in … modern moated enclosures,” the zoo’s website informs.
Zoos across Pakistan often confront criticism over poor conditions and animal welfare concerns. Back in 2000, BBC coverage revealed that a teenager’s remains were found within the lion area of a Lahore zoo.
The incident closely follows another tragedy in India where a zookeeper lost his life to a black bear’s attack at the Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, as reported by The Times of India. An accidental oversight in securing the night house doors during cleaning led to the fatal event.