A man who bought a ticket to the East London Zoo and casually ambled over to the lion pen was yesterday found dead inside the big cats’ enclosure.
The unidentified visitor had shown no signs of distress before leaping inside, according to security footage. His ravaged body was found at 10am when the animals were fed.
Police said the man had not yet been identified but he was 30-35 years old and an inquest docket had been opened. The mauling, which was captured by a security camera, shocked zoo staff and management, and disrupted operations for a few hours.
Buffalo City Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese said the man paid the entrance fee, casually entered the zoo, then scaled the fence of the lion’s enclosure. “According to the footage the man entered the zoo this morning around 9am. He was alone and did not display any signs of being emotional or distressed,” said Matebese. “We suspect that he used the corner of the security wall and the fence of the lion enclosure to climb up and jumped over. His corpse was discovered around 10am when it was time to feed the lions.”
Many readers commenting on the Dispatch Facebook page decried the lax safety of the East London Zoo. But, Matebese said: “There are adequate safety measures in place which are regulated by the laws of the country and we constantly improve and upgrade our security. “It is unfortunate that a person made such a life-ending attempt to access an extremely dangerous and protected area despite all the warnings displayed at the zoo.” When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the scene, more than 200 King’s College children from the age of six years were being ushered out.
A confused King’s College teacher, who did not want to be identified as she is not authorised to speak to the media, said all they were told was that they needed to take the children out because of “an incident” in the lion’s enclosure. Later the zoo was teeming with police and emergency service personnel. An hour passed and later a forensic pathology vehicle emerged.
Police spokeswoman Hazel Mqala said when the police team arrived they could not enter as one lion was too aggressive. It was eventually sedated. “Even so we felt it might not be safe to go inside . But what we saw from outside it were several injuries on the deceased man's body,” said Mqala.
When the Dispatch visited the zoo later, a staff member said the zoo had closed for a staff meeting. He said some of the staff had been in tears while watching the gruesome scene later on CCTV camera, adding that the victim was attacked by two adult lionesses and a male who tore into his neck. “It didn’t take the lions long,” said the staffer.
On May 11 1998, the Dispatch reported that a man’s corpse was found the previous day, apparently mauled by two Bengal tigers in their enclosure. The man was later identified as 35-year-old Francois Cupido.
Lions kill man in zoo enclosure
The unidentified visitor had shown no signs of distress before leaping inside, according to security footage. His ravaged body was found at 10am when the animals were fed.
Police said the man had not yet been identified but he was 30-35 years old and an inquest docket had been opened. The mauling, which was captured by a security camera, shocked zoo staff and management, and disrupted operations for a few hours.
Buffalo City Metro spokesman Thandy Matebese said the man paid the entrance fee, casually entered the zoo, then scaled the fence of the lion’s enclosure. “According to the footage the man entered the zoo this morning around 9am. He was alone and did not display any signs of being emotional or distressed,” said Matebese. “We suspect that he used the corner of the security wall and the fence of the lion enclosure to climb up and jumped over. His corpse was discovered around 10am when it was time to feed the lions.”
Many readers commenting on the Dispatch Facebook page decried the lax safety of the East London Zoo. But, Matebese said: “There are adequate safety measures in place which are regulated by the laws of the country and we constantly improve and upgrade our security. “It is unfortunate that a person made such a life-ending attempt to access an extremely dangerous and protected area despite all the warnings displayed at the zoo.” When the Daily Dispatch arrived at the scene, more than 200 King’s College children from the age of six years were being ushered out.
A confused King’s College teacher, who did not want to be identified as she is not authorised to speak to the media, said all they were told was that they needed to take the children out because of “an incident” in the lion’s enclosure. Later the zoo was teeming with police and emergency service personnel. An hour passed and later a forensic pathology vehicle emerged.
Police spokeswoman Hazel Mqala said when the police team arrived they could not enter as one lion was too aggressive. It was eventually sedated. “Even so we felt it might not be safe to go inside . But what we saw from outside it were several injuries on the deceased man's body,” said Mqala.
When the Dispatch visited the zoo later, a staff member said the zoo had closed for a staff meeting. He said some of the staff had been in tears while watching the gruesome scene later on CCTV camera, adding that the victim was attacked by two adult lionesses and a male who tore into his neck. “It didn’t take the lions long,” said the staffer.
On May 11 1998, the Dispatch reported that a man’s corpse was found the previous day, apparently mauled by two Bengal tigers in their enclosure. The man was later identified as 35-year-old Francois Cupido.
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