A man’s body was discovered in a tiger enclosure at a zoo in Punjab, Pakistan after zookeepers at Bahawalpur’s Sherbagh Zoo noticed one of the tigers carrying a shoe in its jaws
A man described as a “lunatic” was mauled to death by three tigers after he “jumped into” a tiger enclosure at a zoo.
The zoo in Punjab, Pakistan was forced to close after the man’s body was discovered by zookeepers during standard morning clean-up operations. The grim discovery was made after workers at Bahawalpur’s Sherbagh Zoo noticed one of the tigers carrying a shoe in its jaws.
“The zoo is closed right now as we determine how the man got in,” Ali Usman Bukhari, a prominent officer within the province’s wildlife department which manages the zoo, told AFP at the time of the horror incident. The man’s identify has not yet been confirmed.
In a statement to the media outside the zoo, local government official Zaheer Anwar confirmed that none of the zoo employees were missing. Authorities are now working together to try and identify the victim, the Irish Star reports.
“Our assessment so far is that this appears to be a lunatic, because a sensible person would not jump into the den,” Mr Anwar said. “You can see the den is secured. There are stairs behind the den, maybe he jumped from there.”
The state of the man’s remains indicates the attack likely occurred late the night before he was found. “Evidence gathered from the enclosure points towards him being alive when he was attacked by the tigers,” Mr Bukhari said.
“The tigers did not go out of the den to attack the man, he jumped into their enclosure,” he added. “If we find a security lapse, we will address it. If need be, we will hire private security guards.”
Three tigers were found in the den at the time of the body’s discovery and they were confined to a smaller separate area while investigators gathered evidence. Established by the Bahawalpur Royal family in 1942, the zoo houses a number of animals including tigers, lions, birds and pelicans. “Lions, tigers, and hyenas are housed in … modern moated enclosures,” the zoo’s promotional material reads.
Pakistan’s zoological gardens have often been under fire for questionable animal welfare standards. A harrowing BBC report from 2020 detailed the grim find of a teenager’s remains in the lion pen of another Lahore zoo.
It comes after a tourist was mauled by a tiger while trying to take a selfie with the animal at Tiger Kingdom in Phuket, Thailand last week. Footage circulating online shows the holidaymaker, believed to be from India, walking alongside the tiger while holding its chain. He can then be seen crouching beside the animal to pose for a photo.
But as the trainer uses a stick to instruct the big cat to sit down and the tourist puts his arm around the tiger’s back, the animal suddenly attacks the man, who is heard screaming. Shocked onlookers panic as the incident unfolds and the video ends abruptly as staff intervene to save the man. According to reports, the tourist suffered minor injuries in the attack.