Staff at a zoo in Chile were forced to ‘sacrifice’ two lions to save the life of a suicidal man who had stripped naked and entered their enclosure in front of aghast visitors.
Crowds of shocked tourists, children among them, watched on as the 20-year-old man climbed a fence at the zoo in Santiago and threw himself into the lions pen.
Warning: Disturbing Images
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Daily Record reports:
Extraordinary images from the incident appeared to show the nude man grappling with the lions as visitors watched in horror.
Staff were forced to intervene and took the decision to shoot dead two of the lions, a male and a female.
🔴 URGENTE #CHILE | El hombre que entró a la jaula de los leones en Zoo de Santiago resultó ileso.
Mataron a 2 leones pic.twitter.com/6dCx04UbAw— NoticiasChelmevision (@NOTICIAS_chelme) May 21, 2016
The man was then rushed to hospital where he is said to be in a serious condition.
The lions had been bred in captivity and were around 22 years old, it is believed.
Witness Cynthia Vasquez told Radio Bío Bío the animals did not attack immediately and criticised zoo staff for their allegedly “slow” response.
She said: “He got in from on top of the enclosure, the lions started to play with him, then they attacked him.”
🔴 URGENTE #CHILE | Un hombre entra a la jaula de los leones en el Zoo de Santiago con intenciones de suicidarse pic.twitter.com/TG7wkKFqsI
— NoticiasChelmevision (@NOTICIAS_chelme) May 21, 2016
Security first tried firing water at the lions and evacuated the area, Ms Vasquez added.
A suicide note was reportedly found in the young man’s clothes.
The zoo’s director Alejandra Montalva said: “A marksman decided to save the person’s life and sadly we took the decision to sacrifice two members of our family…. We’re very hurt and very saddened.”
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