A man has died after trying to take a selfie with a lion
The 38-year-old man was mauled to death by the animal after entered a zoo enclosure in India in order to get up close and personal and grab a selfie.
Named locally as Prahlad Gujjar, it is reported that he scaled a 12ft fence in order to enter the lion’s den at Sri Venkateswara Zoological Park.
Gujjar ignored warnings to not enter the enclosure, but before the zoo worker could intervene the lion attacked.
Tirupati police Mallika Garg explained Gujjar’s movements.
“When he saw the security guard running towards him, Gujjar jumped on to a water tank and climbed over the 12-foot-high fence surrounding the enclosure, which has a lion and two lionesses,” he said, per The Independent.
Man dares lion for a selfie, jumps into enclosure, gets mauled.
— Sudhakar Udumula (@sudhakarudumula) February 15, 2024
40-year-old Prahlad Gujjar jumped into a lion enclosure for a selfie in Tirupati SV Zoo park. He also behaved in a way to provoke the lion. After the lion attacked him, he made an in vain attempt to save himself by… pic.twitter.com/4vWaRNkSZM
“He jumped and fell in front of the lions, which mauled him. He died on the spot,” Officer Garg added.
The three lions in the enclosure are said to have remained near Gujjar’s body until zoo workers lured them back into their feeding cages.
Authorities are conducting an investigation into Gujjar’s death, and conducting a post-mortem. They are also reportedly investigating whether he was under the influence at the time of his death.
“Whether he was inebriated or not, we will know from the post-mortem report,” he concluded.
The lion in question, known as Dongalpur, has been moved to an isolated cage following the attack, where he is going to be kept under observation.
