Guard killed by lions in Indian animal park

M G Srinath

New Delhi – A guard who manned the gates of a animal park in Mumbai was attacked and killed by a lioness which sneaked out of its caged enclosure, news reports said Wednesday.

Authorities at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) in Mumbai on Tuesday had to struggle for hours to retrieve the body of the 45-year-old man as the lioness reportedly carried his body and roamed around the enclosure before being tranquilized, the Indian Express newspaper said Wednesday.

But other reports said the guard's body is yet to be retrieved.

A lion followed her and carried away the body after the lioness dropped it. It was retrieved hours later after all lions were chased and locked in cages, officials said.

The incident occurred around 5.50 pm local when the last bus of the lion safari was leaving the park. Harishchandra Gembal, the tribal worker who mans the gates of the park, was opening the inner gate for the bus to leave without realizing that the lioness had sneaked out from behind the bus, P N Munde, Conservator of Forests, SGNP, told The Indian Express.

Shoba, the lioness, pounced on an unsuspecting Gembal who was the only person around. After knocking him down, it carried him between its jaws and roamed around before park authorities reached the area and tranquilized the animal.

But other reports said, the attack took place due to the alleged negligence of the forest guard as he left the door of the enclosure open during feeding time of the lions, an official said.

According to an official, Gembal, had gone to feed the five lions and lionesses in the enclosure at around 6 pm local but he apparently forgot to shut the trap door separating the wild animals and the feeding area.

Seizing the opportunity, one of the two lionesses rushed in and pounced on Gembal, even as a couple of other forest guards watched in horror.

Regaining their composure, one of the guards tried to shut the trap door to prevent the other three lions from escaping. But one of them proved too fast and bolted out.

Additional armed forest guards were summoned from the national park headquarters located around two kilometers away and they tried to chase the 'killer' lioness away and collect the guard's body.

But the lioness, growling ferociously, refused to let go of the body for nearly an hour. The forest guards later shot a tranquilizer and immobilized her.

However, till late Tuesday they could not retrieve the body since one lion was still at large in the national park, the official said.

The 110-sq km Sanjay Gandhi National Park is located in northern Mumbai and parts of southern Thane and is a popular haunt for tourists. It has a rich variety of wild animals including tigers and lions, over five dozen leopards, wild boars, peacocks, the flying squirrel, hyenas and the world's largest Atlas butterfly.

The Lion Safari is a 20-minute ride through a 29.65 acre fenced forest area in the park. There are about 25 lions which visitors can see up close from inside the caged buses provided by the park.

The SGNP (formerly Borivali National Park) is surrounded on three sides by the city. It is one of the few national parks existing within a metropolis limit.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/319770,guard-killed-by-lions-in-indian-animal-park.html.