A 40–year-old man was seriously injured today after he entered a lion’s enclosure at Alipore Zoo and was attacked by the animal. The incident took place at around 11.30 a.m.

Gautam Guchhait, a resident of East Midnapore, climbed a 14 feet boundary wall around the lion’s enclosure before crossing two net fencings to get inside the enclosure.

Advertisement

He then tried to approach the lion, which was out of its cage, by crawling on the ground. The middle-aged man was savagely mauled by the animal which was also pulling him towards its cage. Meanwhile, security personnel were alerted and the man was rushed to SSKM Hospital with severe injuries on his right leg and shoulder.

According to zoo officials, Mr Guchhait’s family, on being contacted, revealed that he was mentally challenged and had left home this morning announcing that he is going to meet the lion today. Notably, a few days ago, birds were stolen from a cage at the same zoo.

The incident has brought to the fore questions about security arrangements in the zoo.

According to officials, the zoo authorities are now mulling over increasing the height of the enclosure wall from 14 to 18 feet. In addition, the number of guards are also to be increased to enhance the security system inside the premises.