Two lions had to be shot dead shot dead after attacking a man who
jumped into a lion enclosure and stripped naked at a zoo in Chile.
According
to reports, 20-year-old jumped into the cage and the lions refused to
attack it at first, with some onlookers even suggesting that the lions
were actually playing with him.
However, things
got ugly not too long afterwards as the lions attacked him viciously,
leaving a zoo keeper with no option but to shoot the two lions in order
to save the man’s life.
Metropolitan Park director, Mauricio Fabry, later confirmed that something believed to be a suicide note, was found in his clothing.
Speaking with British outfit, Mail Online, the director of the zoo, Alejandra Montalva, said: "We believe that this person entered as a visitor and paid for his ticket.
"Later
he trespassed into an area where the public are not normally allowed
and we understand that he forced the roof of the lion’s enclosure.
"It was from there that he jumped, took off his clothes and started to attract the lions."
Montalva said the zoo has been left ‘deeply affected’ by the deaths of the lion and the lioness.
An eye-witness told Chilean radio station Bio Bio
the animals did not initially attack the man and that if zoo officials
had been quicker, they could have saved the man from the attack.
She said: "He entered the enclosure from above and the lions started to play with him, and then after they attacked him."
Several reports in Chile confirm that Ferrada Roman is now in a stable condition.