Lion bites the fingers of the zoo staff – in front of the visitors
Created: 05/24/2022, 12:24 p.m
By: Kai Hartwig
A lion bit off a finger at a Jamaican zoo.
© Screenshot / twitter.com/OneciaG
A zoo employee animates an animal in a provocative way in front of the lion's enclosure in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. This has dire consequences for the careless man.
St. Elizabeth - If you go to a zoo or an animal park, you can admire animals that you can rarely get so close to in the wild.
Big cats in particular are very popular among zoo visitors.
The fascination that wild cats exert is enormous for many zoo fans - as it is at Hellabrunn Zoo.
Lion | |
|---|---|
Size (shoulder height): | Males up to 1.20 meters, females up to 1.10 meters |
Weight: | Males up to 190 kg, females up to 130 kg |
Habitat: | Africa, India |
Lion attacks reckless zoo employee - animal bites off the man's fingers in front of visitors
The focus is especially on the lions.
They are not called the king of animals for nothing.
Thanks to their strength, they are superior to most other species in the wild - and feared accordingly.
How dangerous a lion can be even in captivity, a zoo employee had to experience in a painful way.
The man works at the Jamaica Zoo, which is located in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica.
There he was attacked by a male lion.
A video circulating on Twitter apparently shows the moment of the lion attack.
It is said to have happened on May 20th.
At first, the situation seems rather harmless.
But then the zoo employee sticks his hand through the chain link fence of the lion's enclosure.
He animates the cat of prey, sometimes clapping and calling, to show a reaction.
A provocation that has bitter consequences.
Because now the situation is changing dramatically.
The lion suddenly snaps and bites the hand of the zoo employee.
The predator has part of its fingers in its mouth.
Meanwhile, the desperate man tries to free his fingers from the lion's grip.
He braces himself against the enclosure with his feet.
But in vain, the wild animal bites off the man's ring finger.
Only then can he pull his hand out of the enclosure.
Lion bites fingers off zoo employees: visitors first thought it was a bad joke
According to a report by the
Jamaican Observer
, around 15 zoo visitors witnessed the terrible incident.
At first they had no idea what kind of drama was taking place in front of their eyes.
"When it happened, I thought it was a joke," a witness told the newspaper.
"I didn't understand at all that it was serious because it's their job
(the zoo employee; editor's note)
to put on a show."
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The witness went on to say: "His facial expression when he walked away was as if the pain hadn't set in yet." Presumably the adrenaline of the attacked person ensured that the pain caused by the loss of the finger only became noticeable later.
After a lion attack: the zoo reacts to the tragic incident – “should never have happened”
Like the other witnesses, the woman who saw the attack up close quickly understood how bad the man really was: “Of course, when he fell on the ground, everyone realized that it was serious.
Everyone panicked.” The sight of the injured hand was obviously terrifying.
"All the skin and the first knuckle of his finger were gone," said the shocked zoo visitor.
Meanwhile, those responsible for the zoo in St. Elizabeth also spoke up.
A statement said that the "acts shown" by the attacked employee were "tragic".
However, they would "not comply with the safety procedures and guidelines that must be followed at all times in the zoo." It was "an unfortunate incident that should never have happened".
(kh)
