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‘Mentally disturbed’ man enters lion’s enclosure in Delhi zoo, rescued unhurt
New Delhi
New Delhi
A 25-year-old man, who the police said is “mentally disturbed”, entered the enclosure of a lion at the Delhi zoo on Thursday afternoon and spent over 20 minutes in the big cat’s company before he was rescued unhurt by the zoo officials.
Another person, who was reportedly troubled by domestic issues, had tried to enter the same enclosure on September 5, in a suicide bid. Police described the latest episode as a “reckless act by a mentally unsound man”.
Thursday’s incident was captured by a visitor to the zoo on a mobile phone and a minute-long video clip showed the lion standing calmly next to the man for several moments before trying to pin him down.
Zoo authorities said it was easier for the rescuers to distract the lion than persuade the man to walk away from the animal. “When I urged him to step out of the enclosure, the man told me that I had a family and needed to be safe. He told me he was equipped to handle the lion,” said Saurabh Vasisht, the zoo ranger, who was among eight people to entered the enclosure during the rescue operation.
Chinmoy Biswal, deputy commissioner of police (south-east), identified the man as a resident of Seelampur in north-east Delhi, but said that he mostly stayed on the streets. “He is unemployed and mentally disturbed,” said the DCP.
RA Khan, the curator of the zoo, said the man climbed into the lion’s enclosure at 12.25 pm on Thursday, making sure no one noticed him. “The enclosure belongs to 10-year-old lion named Sundaram,” said Khan.
By the time the other visitors at the zoo could notice him, the man had approached the lion which was resting under a tree. The video clip showed the man standing less than a metre from the lion who stared at him for several moments before walking towards him.
The video showed the man sitting briefly on the grass, standing upright for a few moments and even stumbling during the encounter. However, despite the lion standing so close to him, he remained unperturbed and did not make any sudden moves. “A lion does not generally attack a man immediately. It appears the animal was observing the man,” said Vasisht.
What was not captured in the video circulated soon after the incident was the rescue operation. The zoo’s rapid response team immediately reached the spot and began a rescue that lasted over 15 minutes, said RA Khan.
“We began by diverting the lion’s attention away from the man by calling out his name. We managed to distract the lion, but the man wouldn’t budge despite our calling. He just roamed aound,” said Vasisht. By this time, the zoo officials had lowered a ladder into the moat along the borders of the enclosure and several officials had entered the compound.
The zoo authorities then decided to tranquilise the lion, but the hit failed to down the animal. “A calm environment was needed for the tranquiliser to be effective, but the noise made by the visitors hampered it” said Vasisht.
The man was finally lured towards the moat, away from the lion, but he would still not climb the ladder, said Vasisht. “The lion had left the spot, but not this man. He said he wanted to tame the lion,” said Vasisht. The man was finally forcibly drawn out of the enclosure before being handed over to the police.
The DCP said the man has been sent to the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS) for mental examination and care.
In September 2014, a white tiger named Vijay had attacked and killed a man who jumped over a barricade into an enclosure at the Delhi zoo. The deceased was identified as Maqsood, a factory worker and resident of central Delhi’s Anand Parbat. His parents had said that the 19-year-old was mentally ill and addicted to bhang (cannabis).
